You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Resurrection morning

2012-03-03T21:36:00.002+08:00

If Jesus died around 3 pm on a Friday, and rose on a Sunday morning ... that's 9 hrs till midnight, 24 hrs till the next midnight, which together is 33 hrs ... so if he rose at around 7am on Sunday, he would have been in the grave exactly 40 hrs.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure it works. For once, I haven't seen the Bible using the number 40 in connection with the time between Jesus death and resurrection. Secondly, apparently sunrise in Israel is no later than at 6:40am even in winter (poor young man that fled naked! he must have been freezing if it really was winter). Also, since it sounds that Jesus died just after 3pm, it might mean He would have risen rather slightly after than slightly before 7am...

The gospels all emphasise that it was on the first day around sunrise (probably dependent on whether you're looking at the time when people leave for the tomb, or arrive at the tomb):

toward the dawn of the first day of the week (Matthew)

very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen (Mark)

on the first day of the week, at early dawn (Luke)

on the first day of the week ... early, while it was still dark (John)

Maybe, we should be looking for the number 38 instead, which is also an interesting number (John 5:5). Then, Jesus could have risen at around 5am, and passover could have been in a more warmer time of the year.

Sermon on Ethnicity

2012-02-27T15:15:00.002+08:00

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2012-01-22-Red-and-Yellow-Black-and-White-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

thx Nicolai for your story!

Gen 17 Sermon

2012-02-27T15:14:00.000+08:00

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2012-02-26-The-Marks-of-the-Covenant-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

thx Paul for the info as usual...

The rich young ruler

2012-02-16T22:55:00.000+08:00

Allow me to try paraphrasing this story from mark 10

A 5 yr old little young overachiever runs up to 'daddy' Jesus and says
Daddy daddy I want to be the president (or some other almost unattainable positive post)
Jesus replies, the president son? Do you know what that involves ?
You must do this... And this... And this.. And this...
And the 5yr old says. Yes daddy I've done all those things in nursery
Jesus looks upon his child and loves him... Isn't he sweet.?

(taking him seriously as a child and encouraging him)
Ok kiddo... Just one more thing as a next step
You've got to take all your toys and give them to your friends to gain election votes
What?! He replies. I can't do that...
And is very sad
So is Jesus

Why do they want to do such silly things... And not just let me love them...sigh...
-----

So thats a terrible caricature ... But I think it captures the feelings between the two

On another note.. Jesus mentions the 6 latter commandments not so much because he wants to show the omission of the first 4., but he wants to show him that he did not fulfil the summary of the commandments - I.e. to love your neighbour as yourself. He does this in a positive way since he is a little earnest

Then he explains that to love your neighbour as yourself would involve giving everything you have to at least equalise yourself with the poor. By definition

To be good however... Means to 'lay down your life for others'
Therefore only the Father is good . Since He gave up His Son already - all he had for others
Jesus will soon become good when he does the same - with his life.

The 'Silence' of Creation

2012-02-04T14:03:00.000+08:00

Creation was made 'speechless' on purpose

A harmonious concert that plays in the background,
or a vivid painting of brilliant colour

It was meant to not say anything by itself - hence it cannot save,
and by itself cannot offer any meaningful knowledge of its composer

In fact, it can be misinterpreted by those who do not know Him
to say anything they want it to say

It is only when the Word, comes and explains its creation
Does everything make sense - and then we say...
'oh I see... of course that's what it meant'

Therefore the church is the Word meant to both preserve a crumbling creation
- preserve in the sense that it must keep it pointing to its Master, when decay attacks it
and it must speak the Word that creation was never meant to say

Creation was made to be reserved for the Word to speak... it is the necessary background music

Theology of time - essay

2012-01-06T13:37:00.002+08:00

Time is Love

Please download, enjoy (if possible) and let me know your views so I can produce a better draft next time round :)

The purpose of this essay is to highlight that a misconceived view of "time" plagues our reading of Scripture (especially the Old Testament), which intertwines with our (mis)understanding of the Spirit's work in both the OT and NT.

The Law that Protects

2012-01-05T08:51:00.000+08:00

You may find this strange...

But one of my long time ponderings was why did the Lord 'outsource' parenting of kids to the law & angels -i.e. a nanny? In the context of Singapore where everyone outsources their parenting to maids or child-care centres from as young as 6 months - this gave very negative connotations that the Lord didn't want to 'deal' with His kids until they were old enough to engage with in a more meaningful way.

My sinful thinking was quite shattered this morning... when I found I had to discipline my daughter quite severely for an offence she had committed. I found my wife to be much more faithful in the matter - she is more consistent in laying down the rules & regulations and punishing the small offences in small ways. If I had more consistency - and 'more law' for the children - then my the severe discipline would have never been necessary. Anarchy would have been resisted at an earlier stage.

Thus the Lord God, in absolute loving kindness and faithfulness lays down the law to a juvenile world - through his adopted children Israel - preventing sin from spreading into total lawlessness or anarchy. In this way - we are 'protected' from the harsh (but obviously much more patient) wrath that comes hand in hand with a jealous love.

The Pharasaitical understanding of the law, therefore, so obviously becomes tyrannical - for it seeks to keep children under a caretaker - with parental convenience and domination as its motivation. Where else the law in it's proper context - laid down for the young (or lawbreakers) - forms a protective barrier, that allows children to approach near enough to see the grace that is behind, through, and ahead of it. Much like the Levitical arrangement in the camp in the wilderness.

Jesus came when the school teaching had ended - yet that does not mean we do not lay down law for our own children in their own childishness - in holy and good motivation. The desire of the law however, must surely be the hope of complete intimacy and indwelling. The one-arms length is for our own safety and growth - not for His convenience, and neither is it His desire. He who wants to come down to be so close and never depart....

(more of that thinking in the sermon below)

O come, o come ... Melchizedek?

2011-12-24T19:16:00.002+08:00

Dear brothers,

we are about to celebrate the coming of the King. He is God's King, whom the Father has set over His own people, His own family, to rule them in sweet love. He was always God's King over Israel, as it was said about them, that "The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them" (Num 23:21), even long before the first Christmas. He was with His own, though not yet one of them. Again, it was prophesied, "His [God's] King shall be higher than Agag, and His kingdom shall be exalted." (Num 24:7).

The Christian saints of old knew Him, and prayed concerning Him, "The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; He will give strength to His king, and exalt the power of His Christ" (1 Sam 2:10). Such was Hannah's prayer, after she had conceived the son she longed for with the help of God, and had given birth to him. She dedicated him to God, and he became a prophet over God's people. This prophet, Samuel, they asked for a king (1 Sam 8:5), not knowing Jesus, The King, whom Samuel's mother worshipped and living as though there was no king (Jgs 21:22). Samuel, distressed when seeing his beloved Christ rejected as king, prayed to the LORD, and Christ Himself answered, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them." (1 Sam 8:7). Yet, one day, in all His mercy, He would come anyway, to a people who rejected Him, to bring salvation to the poor.

And so He did - and the wise men, having learnt their wisdom from reading Scriptures diligently, came to Judea. They said to a king, "where is The King?" (after Mt. 2:2). Had they not known that Jesus was The King, they would have been content with the normal king, whom they had already found. But they came to see The King, bringing gifts to Him: Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh (Mt 2:11).

Why these gifts? Some say, Gold because Jesus is our glorious king, frankincense because He is our priest, and myrrh cause He's going to die (for myrrh was used to anoint the dead). And it sounds good, but is it the point? Are we seeing wonderful things in them that they didn't actually mean? Let's look again..

Gold for the king - but does Moses say that? (Please tell me, if you know!) Was not the High Priest the only person to be clothed in gold from top to bottom? He had golden bells above his feet, a plate of gold on his chest, and a plate of gold on his head, saying, "Holy to the LORD" (Ex. 28). It was also the priests and the High Priest who was anointed with myrrh (Ex. 30:22-30). Again, it was the High Priest who burned incense in the tabernacle (Lev. 16:12).

Remains the question: Why go to the baby-shower of a King, and bring presents for a High Priest? Surely they would have known that Jesus was a Jew? "For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests." (Heb. 7:14). Why then do they bring priesthood-gifts to a Jewish-born baby? Especially, since everything is so clear that they are looking for a King? There has been no-one in the Old Testament who was both king and priest ... except one: Melchizedek. "This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God [that is, of the Father], met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him" (what follows is all from Heb 7:1-4). Let us "see how great this man was". Who is he? "He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life...". He has no father or mother, so is not a human being. He has no beginning of days, so he is not an angel either, nor any created being. That leaves us with three options, for there is only three who have no beginning of days: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Who is He? He's *the* "priest of the Most High God". Jesus is the only one to be both King and Priest. More than that, He is both the original King and the original Priest. Abraham knew Him, Hannah prayed about Him, Samuel talked to Him. But now He has come in the flesh! This God, our God, has become one of us, forever!

Merry Christmas!

God's Pleasure - to dwell with us

2011-12-14T16:14:00.000+08:00

An attempt at a sermon based on Wesley's line "Pleased as Man with Man to Dwell"

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-12-11-Pleased-as-Man-with-Man-to-Dwell-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

- Scripture text was John 1:9-16

Anachronistic Insufficiency

2011-12-03T12:18:00.000+08:00

In Bible interpretation - the accusation is that the OT was often read anachronistically:
i.e. reading the NT back into the OT

the opponents against this stand by the fact that the OT is Christian Scripture - and therefore they are reading what is already there - and explicitly meant to be there

actually, I think the problem is we don't read Scripture relationally - as though the same Person(s) is speaking
and we have the knowledge that this Person(s) does not change

so in theory - we should read Scripture contextually (more about within the setting, rather than the 'extent of the revelation'), and then apply it both currently, exponentially in to the future, and anachronistically impose it onto the past - since the goal is to find out about the character of God Who does not change

it is also understanding the basis of the fact that humanity is inherently the same at the core - sinful - and we merely see differential expressions of sin (and faith) according to culture

What do you think?

Leviticus

2011-11-29T09:20:00.001+08:00

Leon's done a couple of sermons on Leviticus recently:

http://www.mediafire.com/?j57x7i8zz6b6425 - an overview of the whole book

http://www.mediafire.com/?kcuq697qwu64xc8 - one on Lev 23

enjoy!

Grace is the hardest thing of all to believe..

2011-11-18T04:41:00.002+08:00

(From Paul Blackham's Jesus Talks – Trinity 8 – from 18mins to end)

Grace is the hardest thing of all to understand and believe. It makes no sense at all in terms of human logic and instinct. Our first thought really, our first thought is always, “What do I need to do? How can I sort myself out?”

And even in these ultimate questions, we assume that there’s some kind of tradition or creed or technique or religious system or self-improvement programme or new resolutions that will sort us out. We always vastly underestimate the problem and vastly overestimate our abilities.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is a statement that He alone has the ability to sort out our problem that is so huge. And He has the love and the servant-heart and the humility and the glory to do it. We might ask, “What do I need to do? How can I sort myself out? How can I fix things?”

To which, God replies, “Do you mean what do you need to do in order to pacify the living God whose eyes are too pure to even look on sin? What do you need to do in order to turn back history, to take away the things that you shudder to remember? What do you need to do in order to encompass the whole universe in yourself so that it can be purified by you? What do you need to do to disarm the devil, defeat death, answer the gaping abyss of hell? What do you need to do in order to bring perfect justice, mercy, goodness, and life to a desperate and lost world? What do you need to do to heal all sicknesses and create new resurrection bodies in a perfect new creation? What do you need to do to renew the universe so that it can be the home of the living God forever? What do you need to do to lay a hand on both God and humanity to brings us both together? Well what can you do about all that?... Not much.”

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He was given such a task by His Father and He went out in the Father’s will and the power of the Spirit to accomplish this at enormous, infinite, personal cost. The pure and perfect and obedient Son, Jesus Christ, takes us filthy and double-minded and selfish people as His personal friends and members of His family. He takes up our cause and gives His all to the ultimate degree in order to save us from ourselves. He makes it possible for our past to be forgiven and for us to be made into copies of Himself and it’s possible for us, even us, to be given a warm welcome into the eternal life of God, now and forever.

Wealth Distribution

2011-11-16T11:15:00.000+08:00

2 Corinthians 8:13-15 13 I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

One wonders if this is true for the whole world
the Father daily provides in abundance - more than sufficient for everyone

the reason there is poverty - is that some have gathered too much
or that some are too lazy to gather ("he who does not work shall not eat")
the former imply a lack of trust that their Father will provide tomorrow
the latter imply a lack of gratitude that their Father has already provided

the former will also have wealth which rots in the end:
James 5:2 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.

The point of provision - is not just sufficiency, but enjoyment
but not at the expense of others

Distribution has never been 'unequal' per se - but always enough such that those who can gather can supply abundantly to those who cannot (rather than will not)

Visual Preaching

2011-11-03T14:40:00.000+08:00

John Stott commenting on Gal 3:1-3

"Grapho can sometimes mean to draw or paint, rather than to write, an pro can mean 'before' in space (before our eyes) rather than in time (previously). So Paul here likens his gospel-preaching either to a huge canvas painting or to a placard publicly exhibiting a notice or advertisement. The subject of his painting or placard was Jesus Christ on the cross. Of course it was not literally a painting; the picture was created by words,. Yet it was so visual, so vivid, in its appeal to their imagination, that the placard was presented 'before your very eyes'. One of the greatest arts or gifts in gospel-preaching is to turn people's ears into eyes, and to make them see what we are talking about'.

Pretty much sums up my philosophy of preaching... 3 point sermon anyone?

Theology of time

2011-10-26T16:33:00.002+08:00

... any thoughts?

What if the "fulfilled time" (i.e. Ephesians) indicates "Time" is relational - rather than a linear definition, it is a definition of when God's plan comes to fruition. Time is not fulfilled until Jesus is pierced on the cross. Therefore, all time we spend in Christ is "fulfilled time" - and all time spent outside of Christ is wasted time - or, as Barth would imply, timelessness.

Could have wide implications of how the Holy Spirit indwells in the saints in the Old Testament and how the OT saints (i.e. how we could even call them OT Christians) could be saved, if Jesus hasn't "yet" been glorified. If time is relational, and not linear, then the OT saints very much enjoyed that time as fulfilled even before the incarnation.

Solus Christus (2)

2011-10-10T16:40:00.002+08:00

Here's a slightly different version of the first sermon:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-09-Solus-Christus-Dr-Dev-Menon1.mp3

random thoughts

2011-10-06T09:12:00.000+08:00

things that i'm too lazy to write out...

- to be generous implies to be connected to an unlimited source of wealth (i.e. the Giver), rather than a quantifiable amount

- Jesus does not set us free to go, but to come

- The man who is completely free from his bonds, is the one who is free to be completely bound

Solus Christus

2011-10-05T11:56:00.000+08:00

My version of Solus Christus - based on Galatians & Martin Luther

http://www.mediafire.com/?114djm7jia9if1y

Work

2011-09-21T12:57:00.000+08:00

My new definition of Work

Work is to produce life

Thus sinful work only works for the self and is ultimately futile

God's work is to produce life in others, for we already have life in self - we are to create an Eden for others (despite it costing us dearly)

In this way - we testify to our Working, Resting God
Who longs to live in the Eden He made for us, with us

is that a complete enough definition?

OT Spirit

2011-09-20T09:04:00.002+08:00

avid Murray has a series of posts on the Spirit in the OT

His conclusions are these:

Five conclusionsI’ll post some quotes tomorrow from ancient and modern commentators to support this interpretation of this passage. But in the meantime, here are some conclusions:

1. All Old Testament believers were born again from above, had faith in the coming Messiah, and were continually indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit was given to Old Testament saints prospectively, just as pardon of sin was given in view of Christ’s future atonement.

2. Old Testament believers’ experience of the Holy Spirit was usually limited to a degree of personal filling, but rarely a filling full, and even more rarely an overflowing to others in witness, evangelism, and mission.

3. The reason for the more limited experience of the Spirit’s indwelling was because of their more limited knowledge of Christ’s person and work.

4. Once Christ’s person and work and reached its apex of revelation, the Holy Spirit’s power was fully manifested in overflowing power.

5. The more we are filled with Christ, the more we will be filled with the Spirit, and the more we will overflow into the lives of others in witness, evangelism, and witness.

Agree?

I wonder for points 2-3 it is not so much an individual sense, but in a corporate sense - i.e. limited to Israel, vs overflowing to the whole world - surely Moses' evangelism and mission was as 'powerful' as ours?

any thoughts?

Ranting on 1 Samuel

2011-09-15T16:09:00.001+08:00

So just heard the dean of a certain Australian college give a series of sermons on 1 Samuel as training on how to preach OT narratives in a Christ-focused manner:

which to him means explaining the passage in detail and then putting 1-3 minutes of Jesus at the end...
does that qualify as preaching Christ?

For example, 1 Sam 13,
Amnon & Tamar... explain whole story, let it come out in feeling...
then at the end Jesus is the true son of David who will live the way David never could
unlike the real sons of David which brought out the murderer and rapist in him

ok i guess.. but is that all we've got??

what about this...

as we trace how sin works and affects the prince and his half-sister-bride

we then come to trace the faithful prince, with his sister, his bride,

Song of Solomon 4:9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

he then knows how to wait for love, for if he advances on her too soon, she will reject him and be his tool, not his helper, and he indeed will be like all the other fools who: stir up or awaken love (before) it pleases.

No, He will woo her, and die for her, instead of murdering her husband.. to allow her to open up slowly and surely,

then he will take his (half) sister, bride - according to the King's command, into their mother's bed chamber

forever

or something like that?

optimism & pessimism

2011-09-14T15:13:00.002+08:00

Being realistic is to be pessimistic about all the works of man, and to be optimistic about the compelling love of God

Godly Hermaneutics

2011-09-14T14:33:00.000+08:00

According to the Living God...

Jeremiah 1:11-12 11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond branch." 12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."

"sounds like" - is a perfectly acceptable form of understanding something

NLT 1 Kings 18:44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, "I saw a little cloud about the size of a hand rising from the sea." Then Elijah shouted, "Hurry to Ahab and tell him, 'Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry, the rain will stop you!'"

"looks like" is also acceptable

so i don't see what the heck is wrong with allegorizing and making quite generic allusions to both things in Scripture and creation...

Another sermon on Proverbs

2011-09-09T18:26:00.003+08:00

Must admit, didn't quite know what else to say apart from what I already said last week, but wanted to zoom in on us being reacquainted with Wisdom - Jesus - Father. Wasn't explicit with this, but also wanted to drop the hint that a sermon is not just about us coming as subjects before a king to hear a list of decrees or applications to work on; but simply spending time with Jesus, and receiving Him and from Him, being loved by Him and loving Him. Again, not sure I dealt with it properly, and basically ran out of time to think through more... Don't know why but didn't really want to preach this sermon and felt like I just went through the motions.
As always... comments very much appreciated...

http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=142

Sorry... still don't now how to do the link thing!

A sermon on Proverbs

2011-09-02T02:18:00.005+08:00

http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sermons/DR000288db.mp3

Not sure how this went down, but from whatever comments I had, it didn't seem to 'do much' for people. So comments very much appreciated. It's not sleek public speaking as I'm trying to preach without a script - finally taking Prentice's advice - but really just want to know if the gospel was presented. Getting a bit disheartened by not much happening through sermons.

By the way, how do you put a link in a post that you can click on to take you to another site or sermon etc?

Lashing with the law or applying the balm of Christ?

2011-08-19T18:54:00.003+08:00

Something a dear friend of mine wrote when talking about how he's beginning to be led out of 'spiritual depression':

"I heard an encouraging sermon at church from a visiting missionary from Pakistan. It occurred to me that people who minister with Muslims have a greater emphasis on grace than people who minister with your average Westerners. People who spend all their days with (apparently) complacent Christians seem to fall into the trap of thinking that it will help to bash them over the head a bit. But people who minister with those who are already being bashed over the head by a false religion seem to understand that grace is the answer."

Going Home to Jesus

2011-08-16T09:44:00.000+08:00

A sermon on 2 Cor 5 - continuing from the last one on 2 Cor 4:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-08-14-Going-Home-to-the-Lord-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

Paul... if you read this.. i hope you don't mind me referring a bit to Project Abraham

Oh and is it ok to quote Bryan Adams in a sermon?

Baby when you're gone, I realize I'm in love days go on and on, and the nights just seem so long Even food don't taste that good, drink ain't doing what it should things just feel so wrong, baby when you're gone

Bodily Control

2011-08-11T22:00:00.000+08:00

From Augustine's City of God:

"Then (had there been no sin)....

... people can move their ears, either at one time or both together...

...a number of people produce at will such musical sounds from their behind (without any stink) that they seem to be singing from that region...

... I know a man who used to sweat whenever he chose...

.. We observe then that the body, even under present conditions, is an obedient servant to some people in a remarkable fashion...if this is so, is there any reason why we should not believe that before the sin of disobedience... the members of a man's body could have been the servant's of a man's will."

Book XIV, Chapter 24

Jars of Clay

2011-08-08T10:27:00.000+08:00

My sermon on 2 Cor 4:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-08-07-Treasure-in-Jars-of-Clay-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

a short quote:

At the cross, Christ was given over to the cruel world by God. Darkness was never as black as it was that day – so dark was it that even the noonday sun could not shine. It as though the heavens over His head became as bronze and the earth under Him was as iron - as if Christ was refused by both as all our sins lay upon Him. Darkness closed in, thinking it had won the victory, one final death blow, and it would all be over – God would come to nothing. Yet it is when the darkness was so great, when selfish humanity killed its Master, was when the light shone most brightly out of the darkness - into the whole universe – just like Day 1 in Genesis – when creation began in earnest, now new creation flowed out of the shattering of Christ. The Clay Jar, was utterly shattered (action) and the love of God, shone so brightly so that we, like the Roman Centurion, could finally see the heart of God and believe. Behold Him, This is your God. That is what we are about to remind ourselves today as we take communion, the body of Christ was torn, that we may see our God and believe– come and see how much He loves you, let Him take the scales away from our veiled eyes.

Supernature

2011-08-02T09:53:00.001+08:00

From Leithart:

In the modern view, miracles, if believed at all, are the paradigmatic “supernatural” events. Verhey suggests that we should think of miracles “not as violations of nature but as the eschatological fulfillment, completion, and perfection of nature. In these works of power the creation itself is being made new, not violated. In these works of power the Word that was present at the creation summons nature to its own perfection.” When Jesus exorcises a demon, he does not violate nature but liberates it and brings it to fulfillment. When he calms the storm, He is bringing the sea to eschatological peace. And by healing He brings damaged human beings to their restoration: “The healing miracles of Jesus demonstrate that God’s cause is life, not death, that God’s cause is human flourishing, including the human flourishing we call health, not disease. . . . And the nature miracles make it plain that God’s cause is the blessing upon nature that calms the waters of chaos and restores nature itself to what God intends.”

God is not identified with natural processes, nor with supernatural miraculous processes. In miracles, we have warrant for altering nature, but altering it in the direction of God’s kingdom, to serve His purposes. Altering nature to heal, Verhey says, is consistent with Jesus’ purposes, as is altering nature to bring freedom and blessing to the poor. These works are “supernatural” not in the modern sense, but in the sense that by God’s work in His people, He is bringing creation to its telos.

Moses (i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ) preached in every city from the earliest times? (Acts 15:21)

2011-08-02T04:40:00.003+08:00

The gospel was preached universally even earlier than Moses! Here's a bit of a gem in Wiliam Haslam's (the guy who was converted as he was preaching!) autobiography:

My attention was directed to Cornish crosses; about which I also sent a paper, with illustrations, as a good secretary and correspondent to the same Journal. My researches on this subject took me back to a very remote time. I found crosses among Roman remains, with inscriptions, something like those in the Catacombs near Rome--these were evidently Christian; but I found crosses also among Druidic antiquities. I could not help inquiring, "Where did the Druids get this sign?" From the Phoenicians. "Where did they get it?" From the Egyptians. "Where did they get it?" Then I discovered that the cross had come to Egypt with traditions about a garden, a woman, a child, and a serpent, and that the cross was always represented in the hand of the second person of their trinity of gods. This personage had a human mother, and slew the serpent which had persecuted her.( These traditions came to the Egyptians from an ancestor who had come over the flood with seven others.)

Here was a wonderful discovery! The mythology of Egypt was based on original tradition, handed down from Antediluvian times! From further investigation, it was evident that the substance of Hindoo mythology came from the same source; as also that of the Greeks, Chinese, Mexicans, and Scandinavians. This is how the Druids got the cross also: it was in the hand of their demi-god Thor, the second person of their triad, who slew the great serpent with his famous hammer, which he bequeathed to his followers.

I was beside myself with excitement, and walked bout the room in a most agitated state. I then made a table or harmony of these various mythologies, and when placed side by side, it was quite clear that they were just one and the same story, though dressed up in a variety of mythological forms, and that the story was none other than that of the Bible.

In my architectural journeys I used to entertain, people with these wondrous subjects; and one evening I had the honour of agitating even the Bishop of Exeter himself, who, in his enthusiasm, bade me write a book, and dedicate it to him. I did so. "The Cross and the Serpent" is the title of it, and it was duly inscribed to his lordship. [http://www.4shared.com/document/Pik5a6zD/William_Haslam_-_The_Cross_and.html]

It excites me even now to think about it, though it is thirty-five years since I made these discoveries. The old librarian at Oxford declared that I was mad, and yet he could not keep away from the subject, and he was never weary of hearing something more about it. This reverend Doctor said, "If you are right, then all the great antiquaries are wrong." I suggested that they had not had the advantage I possessed of placing their various theories side by side, or of making their observations from my point of view.

Let's keep the world moving forward

2011-07-23T12:42:00.001+08:00

I find this the video very disturbing...

The Google Effect

2011-07-21T10:12:00.000+08:00

What do you think?

http://blog.sabbathwalk.org/2011/07/google-effect.html

The researchers on the Google-Effect have hit on something about the human condition. They conclude that Google is doing something to change our brains. I think they have scratched only the surface of the problem. In other words, it goes much deeper. This Google-Effect is another of those symptoms of a vulnerable, and desperate vacuum of the human heart. It is not Google actively ‘changing’ one’s brain. It is the human heart’s tendency to prefer the easy way out. Just like more water preferring to flow down a steeper incline, the human soul prefers to go down the trail of self-seeking desires to anything else. Refusing to exercise one’s desire to remember things, one unwittingly lets the computers do the remembering. The net effect is that humans will have lost a part of their identity, and computers will have gained no meaning beyond additional amount of binary data comprising simply of 0s and 1s.

The other aspect of the human condition is to seek its sense of identity through its own means, rather than God’s ways. Lost, restless, and impatient, the human soul thinks that it is the master of its own destiny. Here are three areas of concern I have, to argue that Google is doing something more than changing our brains.

The Most Risky Profession

2011-07-20T10:08:00.000+08:00

An article from Christianity Today:

excerpt:

What makes the pastor's job even more spiritually vulnerable is the expectation that he also be the cathartic head of the church—someone with whom members can identify and live through vicariously. Someone who articulates their fears and hopes, someone to whom they can relate—at a distance. This is key, because the pastor has time to relate to very, very few members. Thus it is all the more important that he be able to communicate in public settings the personable, humble, vulnerable, and likable human being he is.

Thus, preaching in the modern church has devolved into the pastor telling stories from his own life. The sermon is still grounded in some biblical text, and there is an attempt to articulate what that text means today. But more and more, pastors begin their sermons and illustrate their points repeatedly from their own lives. Next time you listen to your pastor, count the number of illustrations that come from his life, and you'll see what I mean. The idea is to show how this biblical truth meets daily life, and that the pastor has a daily life. All well and good. But when personal illustrations become as ubiquitous as they have, and when they are crafted with pathos and humor as they so often are, they naturally become the emotional cornerstone of the sermon. The pastor's life, and not the biblical teaching, is what becomes memorable week after week.

Again, this is not because the pastor is egotistical. It's because, again, we demand this of our preachers. Preachers who don't reveal their personal lives are considered, well, impersonal and aloof. Share a couple of cute stories about your family, or a time in college when you acted less than Christian, and people will come up to you weeks and months later to thank you for your "wonderful, vulnerable sermons." Preachers are not dummies, and they want approval like everyone else. You soon learn that if you want those affirmative comments—and if you want people to listen to you!—you need to include a few personal and, if possible, humorous stories in your sermon.

The inadvertent effect of all this is that most pastors have become heads of personality cults. Churches become identified more with the pastor—this is Such-and-Such's church—than with anything larger. When that pastor leaves, or is forced to leave, it's devastating. It feels a like a divorce, or a death in the family, so symbiotic is today's relationship between pastor and people.

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians - Done

2011-07-13T14:43:00.002+08:00

That's the whole essay

any comments or thoughts?

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (6)

2011-07-11T09:04:00.002+08:00

Conclusion

So in conclusion, in this epistle, slavery is simply living the life of the flesh. Freedom is to crucify the flesh and live the life of the Spirit, a life lived to God the Father, through faith in the crucified Christ.

It is expounded in these ways:

1. We are free from the slavery of sins in this present evil age[1] – that is the true ‘good news’[2].

2. We are free from seeking the approval or justification[3] of fellow men – for we are justified by God in Christ.

3. We are free from the fear of men[4], even the persecution of men[5] (especially those who are ‘religious’), for we are safe in the salvation of God.

4. We are free from the law – its legal demands[6], its curse[7], its imprisonment[8]. We no longer have to prove our own righteousness – ‘it is finished’.

5. Through faith in the crucified Christ, we receive the Spirit of God[9] - that is the basis of the free life we now live[10]. This has always been true – proven by Abraham’s life recorded in the Scriptures[11].

6. We are free from regarding anyone according to the flesh, but only according to Christ Jesus[12].

7. We are no longer slave to either the stoikeia[13] (initially the Jews) or those who by nature are not gods[14] (the Gentiles) – but we are all free sons of the Living God (Christ is formed in us[15]): children of the promise[16].

8. The free life of faith in the Spirit, expresses itself in love[17] – including love for our neighbour[18] (which is what the law required[19]). The enslaving life of the flesh only produces the works of death[20].

9. The free life longs to set others free[21], the slave’s life only enslaves others, and ultimately destroys everyone[22].

10. The cross of Christ frees us from boasting in our work in ‘building-up’[23] others[24] (implying that we have a ‘better system’ than anyone else) – for all is the work of God[25].

So we can infer that the root cause of our slavery is insecurity with our new identity and status in and through Christ’s crucifixion that causes human religion to creep back in. The desire to set up systems and practices that are supposed to ‘ensure’ our justification before God (and cause us to boast in others as they join ‘our system’) – yet they only undermine our faith, causing more slavery than before! Freedom on the other hand, comes from understanding and trusting in the crucifixion of Christ. That we, with Him, are now dead to the world and the world’s influences – because we are alive in God, a new creation[26].

The result is that if one continues to grow in faith and maturity in Christ, one slowly begins to be free from self[27], as the self dies on the cross with Christ – free from the need to self-glorify, whether it be in front of men or God. God accepts us in the cross of Christ – there lies our freedom, our righteousness, our justification, and even our sanctification, through firmly abiding in that truth. That freedom allows us to willingly serve others[28], since we no longer need to serve self and because that is what the Spirit always does.

True Sons and Fathers

The true son rests solely in the love of God shown in the cross of Christ – He needs no other affirmation, encouragement or reassurance. The Spirit of God is the one that constantly pours that love fresh into our hearts[29]. If we are true sons, like Paul, we can become true fathers to others – to beget others through the same Spirit and not through the flesh.

If we are insecure[30], then all our disciple-making will only bind others to ourselves[31], to boost out own standing with men and God – while actually making others slaves to the same insecurity. We will insist on certain practices and systems that we have invented[32] for others to follow in as well[33]. Once the Son sets us free, we are free indeed – people are allowed to express the one faith differently, in a way that harmonizes together[34] – that the world may know we are a liberated people – for the flesh has no hold on how we view one another. We are a crucified people, through the cross of Christ.

(Appendix A - I used Dave Bish's article: http://thebluefish.org/2010/01/when-im-non-gospel-christian-as-if-such.html)

[1] Gal 1:4

[2] Gal 1:7

[3] Gal 1:10

[4] Gal 2:12

[5] Gal 6:12

[6] Gal 2:16

[7] Gal 3:10

[8] Gal 3:23

[9] Gal 3:2

[10] Gal 2:20

[11] Gal 3:7, etc

[12] Gal 3:28

[13]Gal 4:3

[14] Gal 3:8

[15] Gal 4:19

[16] Gal 4:23

[17] Gal 5:6

[18] Gal 5:13

[19] Gal 5:14

[20] Gal 5:19

[21] Gal 6:2

[22] Gal 5:15

[23] Although according to Paul, he implies we are not actually building-up if we do this, but rather, tearing-down

[24] Gal 6:4

[25] Gal 6:14

[26] Gal 6:15

[27] As Luther, quoting Augustine comments that sin is man ‘curved in on himself’ (homo in curvatus se)

[28] Gal 5:13-15

[29] Cf. Romans 5:5

[30] See Appendix A for an example of insecurity

[31] For further discussion, see D. Bonhoeffer, Works Volume 5, Fortress Press, 2005, pg. 44-5

[32] Whether or not it is through ‘Scripture’ (as the Pharisees often claimed)

[33] For example, even something like attending Sunday church eventually becomes a measure of someone’s spirituality. Although it is highly beneficial – it is definitely not the basis of salvation, and not the basis of spiritual judgment.

[34] God is the Chief Musician who arranges the symphony – not us

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (5)

2011-07-10T09:04:00.000+08:00

The Offense of the Cross

Preaching the free grace of Christ always causes offense[1]. “The offense of the cross is the abolition of all religion[2]. The cross proves that we can do nothing to save ourselves. The cross shows that we are cursed and condemned. The cross demonstrates the sinfulness of our sin, the cost of our corruption… It is always easier and more popular to preach about religion and self help rather than the offense of the cross and the crucified Jesus.”[3] Indeed to truly preach Christ crucified alone, brings everyone into condemnation and all efforts to vanity - this is the stumbling-block to the Jews[4]. It is this very way of practicing religion that enslaves, and it is the total destruction of the self in the flesh of Christ that sets one free.

The Root of the Matter

“The problem in Galatia is just as much about justification about men, as it is about justification before God… Paul identifies with Jesus, the ultimate outsider – crucified outside the camp, a reject, a traitor. Therefore the world cannot intimidate him nor has any power over him”[5] - the men of the world hold no persuasion. “If you want to be justified before men, you don’t understand justification before God – you don’t need to be patted on the back by the crowds because you are justified before God.”[6] “When we finally get everything out into the open, we can see that what they (the circumcisers) want is to boast in the flesh… their bragging reveals where their confidence lies (in the world)”[7]. When we are free from the slavery of self[8], our only concern is to be faithful[9] - causing us to boast only in the cross of Christ[10].

[1] Gal 5:11

[2] In the sense that religion is all men’s efforts to reach or prove oneself to God

[3] Blackham, pg. 62

[4] Cf. 1 Cor 1:23

[5] S. Timmis, A Gospel Centered Community, Total Church Sermon Series

[6] Ibid.

[7] Blackham, pg. 74 – cf. Gal 6:12-14

[8] “The trouble with these seekers after glory is… All they think about is whether people will like and praise them. Theirs is a threefold sin. First, they are greedy of praise. Secondly, they are very sly and wily in suggesting that the ministry of other pastors is not what it should be. By way of contrast they hope to rise in the estimation of the people. Thirdly, once they have established a reputation for themselves they become so chesty that they stop short of nothing. When they have won the praise of men, pride leads them on to belittle the work of other men and to applaud their own. In this artful manner they hoodwink the people who rather enjoy to see their former pastors taken down a few notches by such upstarts.” – Luther commenting on Galatians 6:4

[9] Gal 6:4

[10] Gal 6:14

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (4)

2011-07-09T09:04:00.000+08:00

Childish Slaves

In fact to be under the law, is to be under the curse[1], is to be a captive, or a slave[2]. The law was given to be like a guardian[3] to imprison the Jews, much like little children under supervision – through the angels[4]. To be free in Christ is to come to maturity, when rules and regulations are no longer needed; “ready to enjoy the freedoms and bear the responsibilities of the full life of Israel across the whole globe”[5]. To be enslaved is to be like a child[6], constantly needing to be told what to do to prevent one from going out of control.

For the Gentiles, they were enslaved as well, by other beings ‘that by nature are not gods’[7]. Therefore it is quite foolish for Gentile Christians, once being under these beings that seem to encourage ‘sinning behaviour’[8], then being set free in Christ, to go back to other slaving angelic beings[9] that encourage ‘religious behaviour’[10] – both of which enslave in two different ways!

“The Christian life is the life of sons and daughters; it is not the life of slaves. It is freedom, not bondage… As it is, our salvation rests upon the finished work of Christ, on His sin-bearing, curse-bearing death, embraced by faith… Yet so many religious people are in bondage to their religion! They are like John Wesley… He was the son of a clergyman and already a clergyman himself. He was orthodox in belief, religious in practice, upright in conduct and full of good works… But they were bound in the fetters of their own religion, for they were trusting in themselves that they were righteous, instead of putting their trust in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. A few years later, John Wesley (in this own words) came to "trust in Christ, in Christ only for salvation" and was given an inward assurance that his sins had been taken away. After this, looking back to his pre-conversion experience, he wrote: "I had even then the faith of a servant (slave), though not that of a son." [11]

Solus Christus

True sons of God are free sons no longer under the enslaving yoke of the law[12], but under grace, under the Spirit of God[13]. To even remotely toy with the idea of wanting to do something else in addition to trusting Christ is to diminish faith[14]! “In this way, we can never have too much freedom (just as we can never have too much faith, or Christ, or grace etc.) The answer to the abuses of freedom is never to curb freedom… Instead Paul insists on more freedom, better freedom, purer freedom. Thus, freedom is not balanced by other forces like ‘service’ or ‘responsibility’. It is never a case of ‘Yes we are free, but we must keep that in check by remembering our…’ Such concepts as service or responsibility do not stand outside freedom as its referee. Service and responsibility are, instead, included as integral factors in our unmitigated liberty.”[15]

Entertaining even small thoughts of this type of Pharisaical way of thinking[16] can quickly spread throughout the entire church and destroy it – Cole’s suspicions were true – and Paul hunts them out like rabies-infested dogs!

[1] Gal 3:13

[2] Gal 3:23

[3] Gal 3:24

[4] Gal 3:19

[5] Blackham, pg. 47

[6] This aspect of childhood is not commended by Scripture like other aspects e.g. child-like faith, innocence to evil, etc

[7] Gal 4:8

[8] We imply that there are all kinds of demonic forces out there, making people sin in different ways (e.g. the 2 different prodigal sons of Luke 15). This letter is primarily about the ‘religious sinners’, and Gentiles that switch from the rebels to the religious, rather than perhaps the epistle to Romans – which may be talking about convicting everyone that they are ‘sinners’ according to traditional definitions.

[9] Stoikeia

[10] Such as those listed in Gal 4:10, and 1 Tim 4:1-3

[11] Stott, pg. 109

[12] Gal 5:1

[13] Gal 5:18

[14] Gal 5:2

[15] Scrivener

[16] Gal 5:9, cf. Mark 8:15

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (3)

2011-07-08T09:04:00.000+08:00

The Case of Peter

Peter lived under the same traditional Judaism as Paul, and had now been set free to ‘live like a Gentile’[1]. Possibly commenting from Psalm 143[2] he argues that no flesh can be made righteous through the law. Thus in coming to Christ, they confessed they are all sinners, and therefore ‘Gentiles’[3], and that was the point of the law – not to help the flesh become righteous, but to point it to trust in the Messiah, and thus show the flesh it was weak and sinful[4]. Thus even though turning to Christ proves one to be a sinner, it does not mean one can go back to the law to deal with sin, since one already died to the law in Christ[5]. This is exemplified in Peter’s actions: “The fact that Peter was now turning back to it (the law) proves that he is actually opposing the true purpose of the law. To turn away from Christ to the law is a betrayal of the law, the ultimate law-breaking.”[6]

Comparing it with Titus’ circumcision case, then to go back to the law after one has been set free by Christ in an attempt to deal with sin, is the definition of slavery here. And behind all this we can see that Peter’s real motivation was the fear of his fellow Jews[7].

Crucifixion

At the crux of the matter, is the crucifixion of Christ. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”[8] Paul wants them to know that if Jesus was crucified, then even Jesus is not considered righteous by the law, but cursed[9]! “Crucifixion and the law will not go together. The law defines crucifixion as a cursed death. The law told Paul that if he was crucified with Christ he is cursed… however, to choose Christ is also to die to the law and therefore to escape its curse.”[10] If one started in faith by hearing the Word[11], one must continue in faith through that same Word and Spirit[12]. Luther explains the heart of those trying to live out their ‘faith’ through law-keeping: “Instead of doing the Law, these law-conscious hypocrites break the Law. They break the very first commandment of God by denying His promise in Christ. They do not worship God in faith. They worship themselves. Those who intend to obtain righteousness by their own efforts do not say in so many words: "I am God; I am Christ." But it amounts to that. They usurp the divinity and office of Christ. The effect is the same as if they said, "I am Christ; I am a Savior. I save myself and others."[13] Keeping the law in this manner is opposite to faith in Christ[14], it is faith in self - and no wonder leads to making disciples for self, rather than Christ[15].

It is no wonder Paul emphasized that through the law, he was joined with the crucifixion of Christ, and thus now the old flesh is dead, and he only lives this fleshly life to God through Christ, by faith[16] – and that is freedom.

[1] Gal 2:14

[2] See Blackham, pg. 28

[3] For all Gentiles are regarded as sinners. We believe that this whole section is a continuation of Paul’s debate with Peter with regards to Jews.

[4] “As long as he remained a faithful and loyal Jew with the divine law as the way he was meant to live, he was ‘kicking against the pricks’ for he could never keep the law fully” - Morris, pg. 88

[5] Gal 2:18-19

[6] Blackham, pg. 28

[7] Gal 2:12

[8] Gal 3:1, See Morris, pg. 94 for more details on the meaning of the phrase ‘publicly portrayed’

[9] Deut 21:23

[10] Blackham, pg. 28-9

[11] Gal 3:2

[12] Implied in Gal 3:3. We note briefly that a we define a life lived crucified in Christ has the same meaning as a life lived in the Spirit of God. See Fee pg. 204-5 for more details describing ‘the life in the Spirit’.

[13] M. Luther, Commentary on Galatians, www.studylight.org – commenting on Gal 3:10

[14] Gal 3:12 - note Jesus’ interpretation on the same passage, Lev 18:5 – it is in opposition to a man who wanted to justify himself rather than trust in the Lord (Luke 10:29)

[15] Cf. Gal 4:17, 6:13

[16] Gal 2:20

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (2)

2011-07-07T09:04:00.000+08:00

Paul’s Response

Not from Men but from God

As Paul starts his letter, he strongly reminds the Galatian church that he is a sent one[1] of God, who is a slave[2] of Christ, whose gospel is directly from Christ[3], and not from any other man[4]. And therefore his approver and judge will be the very God that sent him[5]. The source of his message does not even need to be approved by the other apostles, who had a similar direct revelation[6]. All his previous ‘religious work’ was done in his own strength based on the Pharisaical traditions he was raised with[7].

The Issue of Slavery

He recounts his time in Jerusalem, which had come about because of the issue of ‘keeping the law of Moses’ with regards to salvation[8]. He then confers privately with the other apostles about the nature of the gospel: “It was not, we may be sure, that he had any personal doubts or misgivings about his gospel and needed the reassurance of the other Jerusalem apostles… but rather… it was to overthrow their (the false teachers) influence, not to strengthen his own conviction, that he laid his gospel before the Jerusalem apostles.”[9] Paul was confident in his calling by God, and his gospel.

The situation in Jerusalem is resolved, and commands are given to the Gentile churches reassuring them that they are saved purely by grace[10]. However, a later incident with Titus arises on a similar issue[11] (which is comparable to the one here in Galatia) and Paul’s response is to purposely leave Titus uncircumcised[12]. Paul implies that to circumcise Titus would have caused an enslaving mindset to enter into the church, and by leaving Titus’ foreskin intact[13], freedom is preserved[14]. Here is a key point of Paul’s argument, they already know they have freedom in Christ Jesus, and now these false teachers are threatening what already exists.

“In the strongest words in the epistle since the curse formula in 1:6-9, Paul turns his guns full bore on his readers, who by their (near?) capitulation to circumcision are thereby in danger of losing their freedom in Christ. Indeed, they are in danger of losing Christ altogether.”[15] It seems that the issue in Galatia was not, “‘how shall I – a sinner – be justified before a holy God’ but ‘how should we – a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles – continue as the people of God.”[16]

Paul is opposing a challenge to the freedom already present in the Galatian church. Barrett summarizes the incoming heresy: “This mediating position claims that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation, but if you wish to be fully a member of the visible people of God you must be circumcised and keep the law… Let them by all means believe in Jesus as the Christ, but let them not seek to avoid their legal obligation.”[17]

[1] Apostolos, Gal 1:1 – Even like the Angel of God, Christ Jesus cf. Gal 4:14

[2] Doulos, Gal 1:10

[3] Gal 1:12

[4] Gal 1:1, 11

[5] Gal 1:10

[6] Gal 1:18-19

[7] Morris, pg. 53-54

[8] Acts 15:1-5

[9] J. R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way, IVP, 1986, pg. 41

[10] Acts 15:11

[11] Gal 2:3

[12] For translation issues refer to Morris, pg. 67-8

[13] Where else he is happy to circumcise Timothy – Acts 16:3

[14] Gal 2:4

[15] G. Fee, Freedom and the Life of Obedience, Review and Expositor, 91, 1994, pg. 202

[16] G. Scrivener, Freedom in Galatians, An Essay, 2005

[17] C. K. Barrett, Freedom & Obligation: A Study of the Epistle to the Galatians, Westminster Press, 1985, pg. 15

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (1)

2011-07-06T12:28:00.000+08:00

Will post pieces of this essay up - thanks to references from Blackham, Glen & Dave Bish

for comments please:

‘Galatians is… a theological refutation of a heresy that, if accepted, would have destroyed the whole church’[1]. If Cole’s claim is correct, then it is well worth understanding this ‘heresy’!

Introduction

The apostle Paul was writing a letter to the Galatian church[2] with very large letters, in his own personal handwriting.[3] He had a very serious issue to contend with – so much so that he would not hold back his curses[4] and even came close to insulting his own friends[5]. The issue was that the followers of Jesus were falling into some kind of slavery. They seemed to be ‘bewitched’[6] by certain religious teachers, into practicing a form of religion that was very different from the teachings of the heavenly appointed[7] apostle.

The Nature of Paul’s Opposition

Who were these teachers? They could have been Jewish Christians from either Jerusalem, or elsewhere, perhaps with some gnostic views; Gentile Christians who wanted to get back to their Jewish roots, or simply a mixed group arguing how much they should submit to moral commandments in the Old Testament[8]. What we do know for sure is that they are accused of: preaching a distorted gospel[9]; bringing the current believers into slavery[10] through the re-introduction of certain Old Testament practices[11]; drawing the believers to become their own personal followers through praise[12]; and they ultimately wanted to avoid persecution[13]^,[14].

So what was happening was that “these new teachings were robbing the Galatians of their freedom and their confidence…. (and so) Paul was desperate to rescue the Galatians from this dreadful cult.”[15] “He had purely and faithfully instructed them in the Gospel; but false apostles had entered, during his absence, and had corrupted the true seed by false and erroneous doctrines.”[16]

[1] R. A. Cole, The Letter of Paul to the Galatians, Leicester, 1989, p. 57

[2] For a discussion on whether the churches were in northern or southern Galatia as well as the dating of the letter – see Leon Morris, Galatians: Paul’s Charter of Christian Freedom, IVP 1996, pg. 15-22

[3] Gal 6:11

[4] Gal 1:8-9

[5] Gal 3:1, cf. Gal 4:14

[6] Gal 3:1

[7] Gal 1:1

[8] C. B. Cousar, Galatians, Louisville, 1982, pg. 5

[9] Gal 1:6-7

[10] Gal 2:4

[11] Gal 4:10, 5:2-3

[12] Gal 4:17

[13] Gal 6:12

[14] Morris, pg. 23-24

[15] P. Blackham, BookbyBook:Galatians, Verite, 2011, pg. 14

[16] J. Calvin, Commentary on Galatians & Ephesians, www.biblestudyguide.org

The Spirit - Co-Beloved, not the Love

2011-07-06T10:07:00.000+08:00

Anyone can explain further?

From http://www.arnizachariassen.com/ithinkibelieve/?p=2448:

In the third book of his work On The Trinity, Richard succeeded in developing an analogy of love that was fully triadic. “God is love” (1 John 4:8): such was his starting-point. Love is the perfection of human nature, the highest reality within our personal experience; and so it is the quality of love that brings us closest to God, expressing – better than anything else that we know – the perfection of the divine nature.

Richard then took a second step in his argument. Self-love, the love of one turned inwards, is not true love. Love signifies self-giving and exchange, and so it cannot be genuinely present unless it is mutual; it presupposes a “thou” as well an an “I.” True love can only exist, in the case, where there is a plurality of persons: “The perfection of one person requires fellowship with another,” wrote Richard. This is the case not only with human beings but likewise with divine being: divine love, as well as human, is fundamentally relational, and is characterized by sharing and communion. The fullness of glory, he affirmed, “requires that a sharer of glory be not lacking.” In God’s case, as in that of human persons, “nothing is more glorious … than to wish to have nothing that you do not wish to share.” If, then, God is love, it is inconceivable that he should be merely one person loving himself. He has to be at least two persons, Father and Son, loving each other.

Next, Richard took a crucial third step in his analysis of God’s relational being. To exist in plentitude, love needs to be not only “mutual” but “shared.” The closed circle of mutual love between two persons still falls short of the perfection of love; in order that such perfection may exist, the two have to share their reciprocal love with a third. “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18); love in its perfection is without selfishness or jealousy, without fear of a rival. Where love is perfect, then, the lover not only loves the beloved as a second self, but wishes the beloved to have the further joy of loving a third, jointly with the lover, and of being jointly loved by that third. “The sharing of love cannot exist among any less than three persons. … Shared love is properly said to exist when a third person is loved by two persons harmoniously and in community, and the affection of the two persons is fused into one affection by the flame of love the a third.” In the case of God the Trinity, the “third” with whom the first two, the Father and the Son, share their mutual love is precisely the Holy Spirit, whom Richard termed condilectus, the “co-beloved.”

In this way Richard of St. Victor, in common with the Cappadocians, saw God in terms of interpersonal koinonia or communion. Following Augustine, he started with the relationship between lover (amans) and beloved (quod amatur). But then, instead of making the third member of the Trinity simply the love (amor) that passes between the first two, he treated the Holy Spirit as a fully personal subject, not just “love” but “co-beloved.” Instead of being dyadic, as in Augustine, the relationship affirmed by Richard is genuinely triangular. In Richard’s Triadology, then, there is a movement from self-love to mutual love, and so to shared love: from the love of the one (the Father alone) to the love of the two (Father and Son), and from this to the love of three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). There is, according to Richard, no need to go beyond the number three; for, when the circle of the mutual love between lover and beloved is enlarged to include the co-beloved, the pattern of love is complete. In the words of Gregory of Nazianzus (not actually quoted by Richard): “The monad, moving forth into the dyad, came to rest in the triad.”

More on Impersonal Application

2011-06-30T10:23:00.001+08:00

The tenancy is to teach lessons and principles

modern hermeneutics is almost completely based on dissolving any Scripture into 'timeless principles' to be re-contextualized in the current culture

The problem is - that people read and understand things differently

Thus even when I read a commentary - let's say Calvin - there are dozens of interpretations of Calvin, because I don't know the Jesus Calvin knows

It is only when I have a closer relationship to Jesus as Calvin did, Calvin becomes understandable, as Calvin

thus in preaching principles and lessons - they can be genuine expressions of your own faith

yet they will be recontextualized by the listeners

and automatically - fit in - to their own life situations - which may not have the same relationship with Jesus

ultimately their principles at best will improve their current lives, but may not do anything for their relationship with God

more likely - the principles will turn them further away from God as they rely more on themselves, or worse, on you... you become a necessary component of their 'faith'

and so they rely more and more on you - and less and less on Scripture, and on Christ

a 'Free Church' is where all a free in Jesus - free from one another, therefore free to serve and to be close to one another - Bonhoeffer is fantastic on this in 'Life Together'

The Necessity of Speech

2011-06-30T09:18:00.000+08:00

The Word of God is an expression of the very being of the Father

it must be sent - http://kbxhk.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/the-word-of-god-proclaimed/

but also spoken - especially if it is to 'incarnate'

Note the translation:
Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

LXE : but a body hast thou prepared me

Hebrews 10:5: Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

talking about the incarnation - it is when the Word enters and embodies flesh

therefore as the church is the sent expression of God, it must speak if it is to enter the world

a silent church is as good as the ever-shouting but never heard creation

it can change nothing unless the Word is proclaimed audibly

for it is in the spoken Word that God the Spirit enters another

Did the Father stop loving the Son while He was on the Cross?

2011-06-30T00:04:00.002+08:00

While on the Cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Often we quote that verse to show that the Father abandoned the Son and was angry with the Son as He bore our sins for us. But did the Father's anger necessarily mean that the Father stopped loving the Son during those hours on the Cross? Or is the Cross also the Father's greatest expression of love for His Son?
In John 17, Jesus was praying to the Father about sharing with us the same glory that He shares with the Father, which is linked to Him sharing with us the love that the the Father has for Jesus. So if on the Cross, Jesus is glorified maximally, doesn't that mean that He is also being loved maximally?

Hearing Between the Notes

2011-06-29T12:04:00.000+08:00

"One of my biggest fears in becoming Christian, was that all my interests, in particular to music, would be pushed to one side, and life would become an awful lot less interesting. All the things that I was interested in before would turn from colour to black and white. I can honestly say I found exactly the opposite. Music now is far more interesting, because now I can hear between the notes. I can begin to ask how does God relate to this, what is God doing in this music, why did God allow this music to be written and what are its powers? I hear much more. I want to say to you if you are a botanist or a medic or economist or even a mathematician... The skill is to hear between the notes, as how God is relating to this or how what He is doing in and through this or what He might be trying to tell us about His world. When you bring them together, you hear so much more... and the result is a foretaste of the end... when God will bring all things together." - Jeremy Begbie, A Sense of Ending

Addictions

2011-06-27T16:34:00.003+08:00

A sermon on John 4 around the topic of addictions
http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-06-26-God-and-Addiction-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

where I unashamedly just use Glen's material again =)

text below:
______________________________

Good Morning. Well since I’m not a trained counselor or therapist, I guess the reason I was asked to speak about the topic of addictions is either because I have a highly addictive personality, which I would like to think so, but more likely that I have the most number of addictions in my life as compared to the rest of our very holy preaching team.

So what is an addiciton? The word addiction is currently defined as “a primary, chronic disease or a dysfunction of the brain circuitry. This is reflected in the individual pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. It is characterized by impairment in behavioral control, craving, inability to consistently abstain, and diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. Like other chronic diseases, addiction can involve cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.”

Wow, sounds pretty serious doesn’t it? Well actually it is – it is very serious.

What does God have to say? As far as I know, the Samaritan woman in John 4 is the closest thing in Scripture to a story of someone dealing with what we today may label an addiction. Indeed this woman at the well has her life mastered by her compulsive behavior – as we read in verse 18, she has had 6 serious relationships with men thus far. It seems that she had a deep longing for intimacy with men – that never seems to be fulfilled. And this pattern of behavior has forced her to reorganize her entire life to continue feeding her addition – especially when it was socially unacceptable. Thus she went out in the heat of the noon-day sun to collect water, because she was ashamed to go out during the cool of the day with the other village women. One could say that her entire life is now wrapped around her addiction. The object of the desires of her heart, the thing that she thirsts after, has become her master, and master of course means her lord.

Here I think we see a better Biblical definition of addiction, addiction is an expression of our natural desires or perhaps we could use the phrase our deep longings or thirsts, that leads us into an enslaving pattern of behaviour centered on the object of our desires, which has now become our master. Historically, the word addiction comes from a Latin word which essentially means to yield, or to give over, to surrender yourself to something. In short, biblical terminology, addiction is idolatry – we have a new lord and master over our lives. Thus addiction is sin.

So then, from your Christian viewpoint, who do you think should be put under the category of being an addict? What kind of person should we say – has an enslaving habit? Could I invite you to secretly hide your bulletin away from your neighbor to allow yourself to answer these questions as honestly as you can – no one will look at them except yourself. Now the question is do you yourself have something that could possibly be classified as an addiction? Think of it this way - when you are tired or stressed or anxious – what do usually do? Here’s a list of some possible candidates. Now we’re going to do a simple test. They are Yes/No questions. Take your candidate and then put it into the blanks. Then total up your positive answers, and then we’ll see the results.

The 10 question test:

a. Do you have a pattern of failing to resist the impulse to ______?

b. Do you find that each time you __________ you need to do so to a greater extent?

c. Have you tried to stop, reduce or control ____ but been unsuccessful?

d. Do you spend a large amount of your free time _____________

e. Are you preoccupied with thinking about __________

f. Do you find yourself wanting to ____________ even when you are at the workplace, school, home or during other social commitments?

g. Do you find yourself still ___________ even when it is causing a lack of sleep or getting in the way of work?

h. Even if you know you have a social, emotional, financial, mental or physical problem caused by ________ do you continue to do it?

i. Do you find yourself quitting or reducing your social, professional or recreational activities because of __________?

j. Do you find yourself upset, distressed, anxious, restless, or even violent if you cannot ___________ ?

How many of these questions do you think you have to answer positively to be diagnosed as a certified addict by a trained psychologist? The answer from some surveys that I’ve looked at seems to be that 2 or 3 positive answers are enough to that you have a legitimate addiction. Now I think if we are honest with ourselves, most, if not all of us will have something that we are addicted to, something that is our idol. And theologically of course this is true – we are all sinners, meaning we are all enslaved to the natural desires of our flesh. Every natural human being is naturally an idolater – a sinner – and therefore an addict, having our entire pattern of life altered – by the object or many objects that we are longing after.

The only things that could be different amongst all of us addicts, is the expression of our addiction – that is to say the object of our affections. Some addictions maybe culturally less tolerated – like gambling, alcoholism or drugs, while others seem to be upgraded to a more civilized status – like food, shopping, gaming, exercise, or even certain unhealthy social relationships – but they are still idols in the eyes of the Living God. For example - with regards to food –“their god is their belly” (Phil 3:19). Or what about this one: Colossians 3:5 “covetousness, which is idolatry”.

Yet what is the cause of our addictions? Is there something wrong with our physiology? Is it that we view pornography because we have a high sex drive, or that we are food-addicts because we have a high metabolic rate? No in fact as we will see, addictions rarely have this kind of correlation. Is it because we have made bad decisions in our life, we weren’t educated enough therefore didn’t learn how to ‘just say no’? Yes possibly. But even when we are educated and we know something is not good for us, or something should not be done in that particular context, or it should be done in moderation – we still do it, don’t we? So it can’t be just that. Is it then because we just don’t have the will power to make those tough decisions in life? Well yes of course – but if that was the only problem, then the solution would be to just go up to every addict and tell them – well you are in this situation because it’s your fault, and you just need to buck up and try harder, wake up your idea. Anyone dealing with serious addicts will know how temporary that solution is!

No the cause of addiction goes well beyond our actions, well beyond even our mind, straight into our hearts. The cause of addictions is the fact that our human hearts desire satisfaction, we desire deep relationships in the way that the woman in the well was so desperately looking for in the 6 men. We need, we desire a type of deep fulfillment that most of us can barely articulate, but we all feel it. We were purposefully made In Jesus’ image with hearts that long to be loved, with an everlasting, ever-new love, a love that can only be satisfied by perhaps something like a Fountain of constantly flowing fresh love. And so to quote Augustine, our hearts became restless as they were wrenched from the very thing they were made to be united to and chucked into a barren wasteland, a desert, a dry wilderness devoid of any source of this type of ever-fresh, thirst quenching love.

And as we are slowly exposed to friends, families or entire societies which feed us temporary, conditional love – that love us only on the basis of who they want us to be; that thirst grows deeper, our throat or soul gets ever-drier. Then our longings then begin to manifest itself in action. In the void, we turn to whatever we can find to try and quench that insatiable thirst – even if it is a tiny drop of water to cool our burning tongue, our anguished souls: money, work, exercise, food, pornography, sex, video games, shopping, social activities, religious activities – yet they never do. It is like digging a well in the desert of dissatisfaction which is our world – each time we dig a little water comes up, and we go for it – but it was only a mirage, a mist or a vapour. So we dig again, and again a little water – but this time harder to reach; so we put more energy into our well-digging and go deeper – and before we know it we have fallen in and we cannot get out. We are helpless victims of our own actions, coaxed by a promise never fulfilled, spoken by a voice unseen, which seems to simultaneously laugh at us at each failure – as each time we end up with nothing but a mouthful of mud - yet it urges us to go further still. It is the same voice that whispered in the first man’s ears so many millennia ago – and yet we have not learned our corporate lesson. We are still little children playing on the edge of a bottomless pit, even dancing happily around it. Little children, let us keep ourselves from idols.

That is why the expression of our addiction is almost arbitrary. According to professional counselors, it depends almost completely on these 4 As –accessibility, anonymity, affordability and aggressiveness. Therefore it is not surprising that the internet now becomes the source of many addictions for today’s generation. Our hearts will cling on to whatever they happen to latch on first.

Addiction also has its consequences. It distorts God’s good creation made for our enjoyment, such as sex or food. It distorts our relationship with others – like in pornography – its effects on our relationships with women. It destroys whole families & societies. It makes you into a slave – it brings your life into a pattern that is governed by your compulsive behavior – no matter how subtle or culturally acceptable that pattern is. It wastes your time, energy & money. It erodes your relationship with God because it often robs you of assurance of salvation, it blinds you to how God wants to work in your life as a whole – it usually is the filter in how we read our Bibles or listen to any sermon – that is the only thing we can hear. It makes you ashamed of to serve God or makes your service as an expression of your guilt – that you serve to pay for your own sins. And it gets worse - the more we give ourselves over to an addiction, the more it controls us and the more we need – it has a law of diminishing returns. To quote a Christian doctor, “Addictions are like ‘greedy dogs, never satisfied,’ ‘with an appetite as large as the grave, and as insatiable as death”.

So then how can we deal with these addictions, this bondage to the slavery of sin? Well let’s have a look at Jesus shall we? It is fascinating how Jesus deals with this woman whom He knows has such a deep problem. It seems that from the get-go His sole desire is to get her to come to terms with her own problems, and set her free from that deep thirst by pointing her to His Living Water. We almost marvel as we watch Him do it.

He says to her, “Give me a drink”. He knows, that she is thirsty, she is the one with the deep longing, but He says can you give me a drink? I don’t think He’s being sarcastic, but rather I think what is at the heart of His question is that He wants to identify with her – that He knows what it means to be weary from a doubting world, and how she feels in her burning thirst for something that satisfies better this behavior which is slowly becoming more and more futile. The fountain of living water asks for a drink! In fact there is only one time Jesus ever says He is thirsty – and that is on the cross, when the burdens or sins of the world lay heavily upon them, and His tongue sticks to the roof of His mouth as He is parched with the barrenness of sin – the dust of the broken human spirit that is so devoid of the love-filled Spirit of God that it becomes like chaff which the wind simply blows away (action). Jesus says – I know what you feel, I will feel it soon, much more than you ever will. I will come into your darkness. It is when Jesus was struck when those Living Waters flowed out.

Jesus then continues to draw her closer, he excites her deepest desires – he knows that she is searching, thirsting and promises her that there is something better – Living Water. And best of all – it’s free – it is the gift of God.

She’s hooked – she is beginning to be more attracted to Jesus than any of those other men. He has begun to pull her out of that dark well. She starts, are you sure? What is it? How can be done? Isn’t what I’m doing good enough? Jesus responds: My water satisfies, in a way that what you are doing or what you even think you should be doing will never do. I offer life-giving water in abundance, that you can drink, and drink, and drink again, for all eternity – you will never thirst again, because it is freely given to you without limit.

Where can I get your water? Give it to me! Can you hear our own voices saying that like a desperate drug addict? In the midst of our unfulfilling life-experiences in our work, our families, our relations, our hobbies, our addictions? Give it to me! She’s like fish breaking the water-line - we see her head lifting.

Now she takes the first brave step into the Light, and the first effect is that suddenly she feels exposed. The Light of the World has laid her sins bare. “Go and call your husband”. She has had 5 husbands, and now she is living out of wed-lock. Jesus knows she has to truly come to the point that she herself believes that her own actions and her own well-digging have not satisfied her, and in fact are the cause of her shame, her dryness, she needs a radical heart change! It is too much for her, she changes topic, let’s discuss ‘religion’, quick run back to the darkness – get my defenses back up. Jesus pursues, lovingly, gently, still drawing her in – watch the Master Fisher-of Men reel in His catch, no matter which way she turns, He knows when to loosen the line, or to keep it taught – He will not let her go.

Come into the light, yes your darkness will be exposed, but let it – let the Living Word of God expose you for who you really are – a sinner, an addict, not someone who occasionally looks at porn – no an adulterer, not someone who believes in retail therapy – no a covetous idolater, not someone who likes the finer things in life – but a slave of Mammon. Let Him expose us. How painful the first touch of cool water to a frozen hand. Yet it seeks to thaw, to loosen the withered limb that it may be set free.

Jesus continues, the Father is seeking true worshippers – don’t pretend you’re interested in seeking Him – no, He is seeking you. He has sent me to come and get you – that is the proof. He wants to make you into someone who can know Him deeply. He is seeking you to set you free from your thirst. No surface religion here – but deep intimate knowledge that is what the Father offers. She gets more excited, takes another step – I know this to be true, and I also know it will be through the Chosen One, the Messiah – He will give lead me to the Father. Jesus has got her right where He wants her, in His net – acknowledging that her current state of affairs is rubbish, and that she needs something more that only Jesus provides.

He only has to scoop her up: I am He. I’m the One Whom the Father sent to offer this ever quenching water. I am He. I am the Fountain of life in abundance, I am the one from whom the love of God through His Spirit will flow into your dry-dust and remake you, mould the now wet clay into what it was made to be. I am He. This is the beloved Son – in whom the Spirit of the Life-giving God dwells and rests – listen to Him. Trust Him.

The result, the woman, is overwhelmed and returns to town – with an empty clay jar but a full heart - ready to overflow as a stream into her dry village.

Did you see what Jesus did? He understood her so deeply, and drew her into Himself – and by doing so exposed the dark deeds of her life, her addictions. As she desired Him, she was confronted by them, but as she desired Him more, she now believed that He indeed could satisfy more than they ever did. Something in her heart was fundamentally changed.

In our own treatment of people with addictions, we first must be able to identify with them. It has been said that ex-drug addicts are far better in dealing with current drug addicts, because they know what it is like to be under the hand of that cruel master. Jesus knew exactly how the woman felt because He was tempted much more than any of us, and He in fact became sin itself – therefore He knew how to approach in her darkness, in her poverty, in her weakness, wounded by her own deliberate actions – and so softly, slowly, lovingly He draws her out, that He may draw her in to Himself.

We can do the same, because we are all sinners, we are all idolaters, we do not approach addicts as those who stand on a moral pedestal, because Jesus didn’t. Very often this is our common response to those whom we can see are in a lousy situation. We simply point out their moral faults, the current depravity of their lives, yet it ultimately does them no good. Because very often either our analysis of their situation is found wanting – we don’t even diagnose correctly, since only the Spirit of God truly knows the heart – we can’t understand them without Him. And more than that, very often the addict already knows that what he is doing is wrong, he knows it’s destroying himself, his family, his career – he may even know the terrible judgment of Jesus staring Him in the face. And all these moral warnings do is further confuse him, send him reeling into further darkness – all he may say is: “I guess I can’t be a Christian – there is no grace for me”. All the motivating talks of – “you can do it, just try harder” – just lead him to further despair, as he relapses again and again and again. How many of you know that horrible drowning feeling – people tell you there is water all around – but you can’t seem to taste a single thirst-quenching drop.

No, this is how we deal with it: “The fire of lust’s pleasures must be fought with the fire of God’s pleasures. If we try to fight the fire of lust with prohibitions and threats alone – even the terrible warnings of Jesus – we will fail. We must fight it with a massive promise of superior happiness. We must swallow up the little flicker of lust’s pleasure in the conflagration of holy satisfaction”

We can deal with addictions here in church if we know Jesus – because Jesus has helps us to understand the sinful human heart – as He shows us our own sin. The one, who knows and has experienced Jesus, can identify with his fellow addict. The only difference between him and the current addict is that he has tasted the water and he knows it is good.. We understand humanity because we know Him, and because we know Him we can point them to Him.

And this is the story of the Samaritan woman – look at what she does in town. “Here is a man that told me my whole life” – what a statement – she acknowledges that her whole life was essentially those terrible relationships; that is who she really is, or rather, who she really was. For now she has begin to drink, and already we see the spring of water welling up in her and even overflowing- in verse 30, the whole town hears about Jesus from her. As we ourselves drink from Jesus in our thirst, we can point others directly to the same Fountain - that is sole earthly purpose of the whole people of God.

As we said earlier, all our addictions are merely different expressions of the same problems – our thirsty, unsatisfied souls. Shall we confess? In the depths of our hearts we don’t actually believe that Jesus will satisfy us do we? The reason we go back to our old habits, as foolish as we may intellectually agree they are, is because we still believe deep down, that they satisfy. Those habits are seem to give real relief, they feel more tangible, more real, more present than the Lord don’t they? Yet this Lord is Spirit, He is everywhere by that same thirst-quenching Spirit, which He freely offers to all who seek Him without limit -proven and accomplished through the cross of Christ. Allow me to paraphrase an old quote:

Conceive a man to be standing on the margin of this green world; and that, when he looked towards it, he saw abundance smiling upon every field, and all the blessings which earth can afford scattered in profusion throughout every family, and the light of the sun sweetly resting upon all the pleasant habitations, and the joys of human companionship brightening many a happy circle of society - conceive this to be the general character of the scene upon one side of his contemplation; and that on the other, beyond the verge of the godly planet on which he was situated, he could descry nothing but a dark and fathomless unknown. Think you that he would bid a voluntary adieu to all the brightness and all the beauty that were before him upon earth, and commit himself to the frightful solitude away from it?

We go elsewhere because we do not believe He will satisfy. What people need is to hear real good news in Jesus, not simply moral advice. They need to be told of the beauty, the love, the desirability of the real Jesus Christ.

Currently, not all of us are dying under the weight of our addictions, some of us still function quite well, while others have their whole lives severely twisted to satisfy their destructive habits. At the less extreme end of the spectrum – many of these problems can be solved merely by having wholesome Christian community – and many counselors acknowledge this. Simply by having regular Christian fellowship with groups, like an AG, of people who read and study the Word of God together and share about how the Word is convicting, and exposing and transforming them can stop any addiction from spiraling out of control. The same is true with children who live in a Christian home where the Word of God is taught and parents are seen to honestly engage with it, as Jesus gently confronts them.

But when things are bad, when our habits have become uncontrollable convulsions of the flesh; then a more rigorous loving treatment may be needed – cold turkey, abstinence or even medication. Drastic intervention by people who love them, removing them from the problem but simultaneously bringing Jesus in to fill the void that is created as the strong man leaves the heart. I run a small temporary group for pornography addicts, and I’m sure Simon Wong would be happy to help out with any other specific issues – just let us know by sending an email or filling in a response slip.

The church of God is not a gathering of the self-righteous, but the gathering of the broken well diggers around the Fountain of Life-Giving Waters. We are a community of grace, where mistakes are understood for what they are, because we are addicts too, addicts in rehabilitation. Together we fight the battle to stand firm in the grace of Jesus Christ, in the love of God, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit – together we fight the battle against unbelief. We use every resource God has given us to proclaim the desirability, the beauty of Jesus to one another – that we may see Him, believe in Him and remain in the Light. That we may not look at ourselves, and see the hopeless captivity of our addictions, and relapse once again. Each subsequent fall is worse than last – and one day our hearts may no longer be able to believe.

Let me end with a quote from the great John Owen:

Do any of us find decays in grace prevailing in us;—deadness, coldness, lukewarmness, (here we may use the word addiction too) a kind of spiritual stupidity and senselessness coming upon us? (we are out of control?) Would we have our souls recovered from these dangerous diseases? Let us assure ourselves there is no better way for our healing and deliverance, yea, no other way but this alone,—namely, the obtaining a fresh view of the glory of Christ by faith, and a steady abiding therein. Unless he fall as dew and showers on our dry and barren hearts,—unless he cause our graces to spring, thrive, and bring forth fruit,—unless he revive and increase faith, love, and holiness in our souls,—our backslidings will not be healed, nor our spiritual state be recovered.

Barth

2011-06-26T22:47:00.002+08:00

Hi all,

I've just started a new blog collating some thoughts on Barth (really just an excuse for me to read through his Church Dogmatics). Please come and visit!

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

2011-06-23T15:25:00.002+08:00

Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, is the largest abbey ruins in the country, and it’s a World Heritage Site. Here’s a little quote from a guide book to the abbey – “Here the monks gathered every Sunday to hear a sermon from the Abbot, except on Trinity Sunday owing to the difficulty of the subject.”

We may well laugh but it’s a sentiment that we can all empathise with. Many people find the Trinity a complicated subject. It’s like a mathematical conundrum that even Carol Vorderman would struggle to solve.

We often think that the Trinity is for those who are really keen, for high-powered theologians, for those with nothing better to do. But even with theologians – very few theological books begin with the Trinity. In most of them, there’ll be hundreds of pages on God, before the Trinity is finally tagged on as a sort of appendix at the end. The implication is that the Trinity is not foundational to understanding God – that we can know and talk about God without thinking of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And that’s what it’s like for most of us. We might verbally articulate our faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – you know, when we say the Creed… but it’s just not that crucial to our faith in God, and it just doesn’t seem to have any bearing on our day to day lives.

But there was a time when people were passionate about the Trinity! In ancient Alexandria, in the days when Egypt was Christian, people used to brawl over the doctrine of the Trinity. Whether or not you would be served at a restaurant or permitted into the public bath depended on where you stood on this doctrine! Well, we don’t live in such exciting times anymore… but I wonder what you think. Is the Trinity really worth fighting over? Do we really have to split hairs over the Father, Son and Spirit?

According to the ancient creeds on which the Church of England is founded, the answer’s yes! Do you know the creeds? There are 3 of them in particular. You’ll be familiar with the first 2 – there’s the Apostle Creed which is the shortest, then the Nicene Creed, which we used last week.

And then there’s one that not many people know, partly because it’s too long, so it’s not read anymore! It’s the Athanasian Creed, and let me let you in on a secret – we’re a bunch of lawbreakers here! According to Law, it’s supposed to be read in church 13 times a year – not least on Trinity Sunday!

Let me just read you the first few lines of the Athanasian Creed:

“Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the [apostolic and universal] Faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And [that] Faith [that determines our eternal destinies] is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity; neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Substance.”

What do you think of this – believe in the Trinity or perish everlastingly? Is it a bit too strong? Too dogmatic? Well, hopefully you’ll see by the end of this sermon that the reality of the One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is essential to our faith and salvation. That far from being some sort of academic theory about God, the Trinity is an exciting, heart-warming reality – life-giving Truth.

First of all, let’s just dispel a myth that’s been made popular by Dan Brown. In the Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown says that the Trinity was only invented in the 3rd Century AD by the emperor Constantine – implying that it’s a fairly new concept about God. Well, from our reading in Galatians, we see that Paul, writing in the 1st Century was already clear about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Yet, it wasn’t even Paul nor John nor any of the other New Testament writers who invented the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is way more ancient than the New Testament!

Look at the famous introduction to John’s gospel – vv1-2 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

The Word is one of Jesus’ many names. John takes us back in time, not just to the very beginning of the Bible, but to the very beginning of all things, and tells us that Jesus was right there with His Father before anything was created.

Quite often people think that Jesus only began to exist on the very first Christmas Day! No… He’s always existed. But as v14 puts it, Christmas or the Incarnation is when He was made flesh, when the Son of God became one of us.

And of course John hasn’t forgotten the Holy Spirit. It’s clear from Genesis 1v2 that the Spirit was also there. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always existed. Before anything was created, there was nothing and no-one else.

But what were they doing before creation? Ever wondered that? One famous theologian answered, “Preparing hell for those who ask questions like this!”

Well, we’ve got to disagree with that theologian on this because Jesus did actually share that information with us! In John 17v24 Jesus tells us that the Father was loving Him [in the Spirit] before the creation of the world.

Then at some point in eternity past, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit decided to create the heavens and the earth, and us! In Genesis Chapter 1, when God created everything, there’s a phrase that’s repeated throughout – God said, “Let there be this or that…” and it was so. God created by speaking.

You know how when we speak, our words are carried along on our breath? In kinda the same but much more personal way, when the Father spoke creation into being, He sent His Word Jesus, who is carried along or empowered by His breath, the Holy Spirit.

Creation is a work of the Trinity – as Psalm 33v6 puts it – “By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made, the starry hosts by the breath [or Spirit] of His mouth.”

So John tells us in v3 – Through Him [Jesus, the Spirit-empowered Word] all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.

There’s a really cool verse in Genesis 1 that let’s us in on what happened moments before Jesus made us. Genesis 1v26 – So Jesus has been busy creating for 6 days. Then at the end of the sixth day, just before He formed Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam to finish of His work of creation, there’s a bit of a pause and a little discussion went on between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over everything.”

This conversation between the Trinity explains who we are, what it means for us to be human. Without a clear understanding of the Trinity, we won’t really understand what it means for us to be members of the human race.

We were created to be like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is one big reason why it was not good for Adam to be alone. On his own, Adam could never reflect the loving relationship between the Persons of the Trinity. This is why the LORD took Eve out of Adam’s side and created them to have children… so that together, as a human race – whether we’re married, single, have kids or not – together we can reflect the loving unity between the persons of the Trinity.

No man or woman is an island. I googled “I am my own man” and found that loads of famous people have used this phrase. It’s a proud cry of individualism and autonomy. Who I am does not depend on other people. My life is about doing what I want. It’s about self-fulfilment.

Well, it’s because of such selfish individualism that there are so many broken relationships and animosity everywhere – between family members right up to between nations in the world. Individualism is a denial of who we are and worst still, a denial of the relational Trinity who created us to be like Them. We cannot find ourselves by looking within ourselves… but outside to others… And ultimately, we find ourselves, we become who we really are only by looking to the Triune God.

This is why the Father, Son and Spirit carried out the project of creation in the first place and made us like them. So that we can participate in that divine fellowship in the most intimate way, that we may know them and share in the love that they have for each other. In Genesis 2v7 we see how tender and loving and intimate Jesus was with us when He made us. We were handmade by Him and He breathed the Spirit of life into us.

We often hear people talking about having a personal relationship with God – as opposed to just knowing about Him. Think about the huge difference between knowing about the Queen and actually knowing her. But imagine if Prince Charles came to us and introduced us to her. You’d get to know her personally – Not sure that’s what everyone wants!

The awesome reality is that the Father Almighty hasn’t just given us interesting details about Himself. The otherwise unknowable Father has sent His Son to make Himself known to us!

John1v18 – No-one has ever seen God [that’s the Father], but God the One and Only Begotten [this is God the Son], who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

Now this raises a question about the Old Testament. John says that no one has ever seen God. But in the Old Testament, loads of people see God face to face – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua and so on. They talk with Him, ate with Him, and Jacob even wrestled with Him.

The second bit of v18 explains this apparent contradiction. It’s not the Father whom they met, but the Only Begotten Son. Whenever people meet with God in the Old Testament, it’s Jesus whom they’re meeting with. So for example, in Genesis 15 we see that it’s specifically the Word of the LORD – Jesus – who took Abraham outside to look at the stars.

Anyway, in the Old and New Testaments, just as with creation, the Father has always only revealed Himself through the Son who is sent in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But what does it mean for us to know the Triune God?

John 1v12-13 – to all who received Jesus, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God – Born again by the Holy Spirit.

And this is what creation and salvation is about – us being part of God’s family. Quite often we only think of salvation in terms of being saved from sin, death and hell, and to live forever in heaven. These things are awesome but not an end in themselves.

Take a look at John 17v3 – “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Salvation is not just about escaping from hell to live forever. It’s about being rescued to participate in the family life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever. If you’re not a Christian, this is what the Father longs for you to be part of, this is why Jesus died for you.

The only begotten Son of the Father has become one of us – He became our own flesh and blood. He’s not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. Galatians chapter 4vv5-7 – through Jesus we have received the full rights of sons and daughters. Because you are sons [and daughters], God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but beloved children.

We relate to God Most High in the same way that Jesus relates to Him. We call Him Father, just as Jesus calls Him Father.

Now one question that reveals whether or not this truth has sunk deep down is this: “How does God feel about you today?” Our natural instincts is to look within ourselves and evaluate whether or not we’ve done good or bad things, whether or not we’ve read the Bible etc… And I don’t know, maybe right now, some of us might even think that God must be pleased with us because we’re all at church… and He’ll be extra-pleased when we give some money later on.

For others among us, we just can’t believe that God is pleased with us or that He loves us even now – we know how sinful we are and we just haven’t done enough for Him. Well, the solution is not to give more or do more. If this is how we think, then we’re thinking more like slaves instead of as children.

Let’s just spend a few moments in John 17 thinking this through. John 17 from v23. Jesus is praying for all believers, as the heading tells us. He’s pouring His heart out to His Father before He’s arrested and crucified. Can you imagine, even then, His concern is for us.

He prays – “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

So how does God feel about you today? If you do not belong to Jesus, then you are not His brother or sister, you’re not a son or daughter of the Father in heaven, and you do not have the Spirit of sonship. And of course outside of Jesus, outside of Him who is life and light, there can only be death and darkness.

But if we’ve trusted in Jesus, then the Father cannot possibly be more pleased with us or love us more. Remember when Jesus was baptised? The Spirit descended upon Jesus and the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well-pleased.”

Well, the same Spirit that rested on Jesus rests on us right now. In John 16vv14-15, Jesus tells us about the Spirit’s work – He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

What is it that belongs to Jesus that the Spirit brings to us? Yes, everything that is created – we are co-heirs with Christ. But more than that – more precious than anything else, is the Father’s love for Jesus. And this divine love which exclusively belonged to Jesus has been given to us. We have full rights as sons and daughters.

If we’ve trusted in Jesus, whether we’re at our best behaviour or worst, even in the midst of our most hideous sins, the Father’s words to Jesus remains true for us as well. So listen to the Father’s words to you from heaven itself – “You are my son and daughter whom I love. With you I am well-pleased.”

Jesus, the Word whom the Father sent in power of the Holy Spirit to create us, to reveal Himself to us and to save us has accomplished everything. He has returned to His Father’s side. And He has not returned empty. He has brought us, His own flesh and blood, back with Him to His Father’s side – the place of divine love and intimacy.

Right now, eternal life has begun for us who know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And one day, Jesus will be sent again, and then we will see Him as well as the Father and Spirit face to face, and live with them in unbroken, undefiled fellowship forever in the family home that is being prepared for us.

In the mean time, do you long to mature as a Christian? If so, it’s not about forcing yourself to do and accomplish more. If you try this, everything you do will be done as slaves – reluctantly, out of fear. And no matter how much you do, you’ll never actually be secure. There won’t be joy but resentment.

To mature as a Christian, don’t try and do things to make God more pleased with you. Instead, spend time enjoying the relationship that we already have with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

How? Read the Bible – not because “you have to or else you’re a wretched Christian!” But because these Spirit-inspired words lead us to Jesus, and through Him, to the Father. If the LORD is whom we delight in and long for, He will give us this desire of our hearts. And then, as we grow in the Trinity’s love for us and our love for them, almost without realizing it, the reality of the Trinity will shape who we are and our relationships – and how we speak, think, and act. The spreading love and goodness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will then overflow from us to the rest of the world.

Brokenness necessary to Repentance?

2011-06-22T11:47:00.001+08:00

If repentance is to be defined as a change of mind - primarily about God rather than of self
e.g. the prodigal son - when he thinks of God as Father rather than slave-driver

then brokenness of self is a necessary requirement to this sort of repentance
brokenness therefore is a realisation that what self has done is going nowhere

it is the grace of God in the cross of Christ that causes repentance

so what causes brokenness?

well in the prodigal son - it is the famine
the withdrawal of blessings to anyone else except those under the Son - cf. Joseph - prince of Egypt

therefore it is the Father demonstrating His lasting blessing through the church under Christ that causes brokenness in the world
or put another way - the light of the church that exposes the darkness in the world

here perhaps is the corporate dimension of repentance - the necessary involvement of the church - as the Father is pleased to do - the experience of the Church of the grace that is in Christ proclaims the void that is in the world that has run away from Him

What should a minister be like?

2011-06-21T10:22:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Reeves' table talk on Spurgeon:

"Give me the man around whom the children come, like flies around a honey-pot: they are first-class judges of a good man. When Soloman was tried by the Queen of Sheba, as to his wisdom, the rabbies tell us that she brought some artificial flowers with her, beautifully made and delicately scented, so as to be facsimiles of real flowers. She asked Solomon to discover which were artificial and which were real. The wise man bade his servants open the window, and when the bees come in they flew at once to the natural flowers, and cared nothing for the artificial. So you will find that children have their instincts, and discover very speedily who is their friend, and depend upon it the children’s friend is the one who will be worth knowing. Have a good word to say to each and every member of the family—the big boys, and the young ladies, and the little girls, and everybody. No one knows what a smile and a hearty sentence may do. A man who is to do much with men must love them, and feel at home with them. An individual who has no geniality about him had better be an undertaker, and bury the dead, for he will never succeed in influencing the living. I have met somewhere with the observation nthat to be a popular preacher one must have bowels. I fear that the observation was meant as a mild criticism upon the bulk to which certain brethren have attained: but there is truth in it. A man must have a great heart if he would have a great congregation. His heart should be as capacious as those noble harbours along our coast, which contain se-room for a fleet. When a man has a large, loving heart, men go to him as ships to a haven, and feel at peace when they have anchored under the lee of this friendship. Such a man is hearty in private as well as in public; his blood is not cold and fishy, but he is warm as your own fireside. No pride and selfishness chill you when you approach him; he has his doors all open to receive you, and you are at home with him at once. Such men I would persuade you to be, every one of you."

Displaying the Gospel the way Creation does

2011-06-21T09:31:00.000+08:00

How should we display the gospel in the world?

Maybe it should be the way like the rest of God's creation does
everything proclaims the gospel in itself - assuming it is doing what God created it to do
(that is to say, you can have errant animals)

Thus in our actions, we should come to the point where we proclaim the gospel in all our actions
from character, to talents - i.e. in our gentle demeaner or in our architecture, in our patience or in our choice of food

of course almost no one would ever see Jesus like this - but neither does anyone see Jesus in creation

it is then the spoken Word of God that illuminates all our actions - whenever the opportunity presents itself
therefore it does not mean we do not do them in and of themselves - we are always to be proclaiming our Father regardless of whether other people get it or not

I think this will get rid of the mindset of 'aggressive evangelism', where it is about how much we are 'getting out there' and witnessing, rather than just enjoying God's work in and through us on a daily basis

Application-Based Preaching is Impersonal Preaching

2011-06-19T16:42:00.000+08:00

To give someone a list of applications to do for this week in his life is at the heart of an impersonal gospel, with an impersonal Saviour

if I preach to 1000 people, which is the size of my church, who am I to state I know the 1000 life situations of their heart

I may get a general sense of things through the Spirit, and at best I can give corporate application to move the church in a single direction

but the Spirit of God searches the heart - therefore it is my duty simply to present Christ - the Spirit will personally apply this relationship to each individual as He sees fit

thus my sermons don't have to be 'remembered' but merely in line with the Spirit, moving people to Christ - regardless if they remember the exact words used - but only they are left feeling strangely moved to the Scriptures that they may seek Him - as He personally interacts with them

How do we view ourselves?

2011-06-19T11:23:00.000+08:00

We are not our gifts - they can be given & taken away

We are not our job / work / activity - these can change and also be given and taken away

We are Sons of God pre-destined in Christ to be conformed into His image

therefore - all my work, if done according to the call of God - is how God ministers to me and through me to make me and others like Christ

all my gifts both given and taken away are the same

I am defined solely by my relationship with my Father through Jesus
and it is the giving and taking away, the vocating and re-vocating that will make that a reality in my experience

in all things God is teaching me, drawing me to Him -
John 6:29 "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

none of the gifts/ work /activities - have intrinsic value in themselves other than the Father's use of them for us through Jesus - through His Holy Spirit
when we remove the Spiritual aspect of these materials./gifts./ activities - it is to kill them - make them tools of death alone

Another Wedding Sermon

2011-06-17T09:52:00.002+08:00

Samuel & Danielle’s Wedding

Passage: Genesis 1:27, 2:18, 23

Good morning, shall we pray:

Well, it is an honour to be here. I am very privileged to be invited by Sam and Danielle to speak at their wedding day. My wife, Chene and I only wish we had a bit more time to spend together.

Sam and I didn’t use to be very close although we grew up in this very church. I guess where we really began to know one another a bit better was back in 2005, when I had organized a little Bible study on Genesis 1-3. I didn’t actually know if anyone would turn up at all, but Samuel did. That’s the reason we decided on these verses that we just read.

Let me read you a bit of his own testimony from 3 years ago:

“The study of Genesis 1-3 changed my perception of God. I saw that God was a personal God through His Son Jesus Christ, who is the light that was there from the beginning, who shone into a world of darkness.”

That changed life is the reason Sam is standing here with Danielle now. So what was it Sam saw, that changed his life? Well let’s take a look at Genesis 1:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27, KJV).

We, the human race, were made in the image of God, and after we were made, He said that it was good. What does that mean, what are we supposed to be like? Well one of the things you’d notice straight away, is that He created mankind both male and female. You see the God of the Bible, the Creator God is not some solitary Person. Otherwise all He’d have made is one other person when He made the earth. No the God of the Bible tells us that He is Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that have had a fantastically loving relationship with one another since eternity. And so it is not surprising that when this community-based God creates humanity in His image, He creates a race that is completely based on being in relationships with one another – and that is destined to multiply and to grow those relationships - to fill the earth with His goodness.

We see that idea again, in the next chapter Genesis 2, where after God came down to form the first man Adam out of the very dust of the earth, He takes a look at what He has made, then says this about him:

... "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." (Genesis 2:18, ESV)

There was something not quite right when Adam was made – no, he wasn’t made with any flaws - he didn’t have anything wrong with his body, or his mind, or his soul. No what was wrong was not what was inside him, what was wrong was that he was lacking a helper – a companion who would be completely suitable for him, much like a key to a lock – she would fit him perfectly. She would quite literally turn him on – it’s no wonder when God makes the first woman, Eve from Adam’s own body – he says to her – Wow!

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23, ESV)

This is awesome – Woman! Then and only then after putting Adam and Eve together, the Lord God said – it was very good!

That is what it means to be made in the image of the Living God, where the Father and the Son love one another so completely so wonderfully, through the Holy Spirit. We were made to be in this kind of relationships – and not only in these relationships with one another, but in the same kind of engaging, compatible, forever relationship with God – through His Son Jesus Christ. Isn’t that a wonderful plan for humanity?

Yet Adam and Eve, well they didn’t believe that. They didn’t trust Him, that He already loved them, and wanted to be in relationship with them. They thought that they needed to prove how good they were as human beings - to prove that they were smarter than one another, or stronger, or richer, or more beautiful or even more religious - to even prove to God Himself that they were worth His time and effort. They did not believe that they would only find out who they were meant to be when they became the helpers, the servants and the lovers of God and of each other.

Sam has had a taste of that in his own life. Again this is from his testimony:

In 2005, I was asked to lead in my church’s youth camp. I took the plunge to discover to my horror that all these years, I thought I had led a pretty good Christian life, I went to church, I prayed, I gave tithes, I sang praise songs, I lived in a church, even taught in a Sunday school class and did all the things a “good” Christian should do... I asked myself, how much can I keep on going living a lie.

Sam, like many of us thought, that what He needed to do was to prove to God and others that he was a good person. Yet, as he found out through that one week of Genesis studies: “I realise my gauge of goodness as a Christian was a pathetic picture of my pride and sinfulness...“

He was trying so hard to fit into what he thought he should do. After all he is a pastor’s son! Yet he didn’t realise that all he should ‘do’, is let Jesus love him, and when he realised that: “This was when I embraced Jesus as someone whom I could have a relationship with, who understood our every need, weakness and temptation.” Sam finally understood that the very reason he was made in God’s image was that he was made to be loved and to love – and that would make him very good indeed.

Danielle felt that in her own life too – as she was sharing with me. She had a difficult time growing up, she felt that to be accepted among her peers, she had to depend on her appearance, as we all can see - she’s very pretty. She thought that people would only love her if she looked good. And so she had some pretty bad experiences, some of which were her fault, and a number was the fault of others – I can’t give you any details here, but I’m sure if you asked her – she might tell you. But in her own words she said, “I ended up being disillusioned in my appearance – I felt my body just became a tool” – she felt she was not being loved, but being used. That’s what sin does to us all, as we reject God’s love, we no longer feel loved. As much as we try to prove ourselves, we end up feeling like tools, to be used by others.

But thank God, she met some Christian friends at a camp, who began to love her a little bit, and she felt accepted and wanted to meet personally with the God who enabled them to love. She joined the OM ships - that’s where she met Sam – because she was that desperate to meet with this God Who was spreading out, multiplying this goodness, through His beloved people.

That is where our handsome bridegroom, Sam, stepped into her life. They met as they were doing Bible study together on board the ship, and after about 8 or 9 months as friends. Sam, being the techie he is, sent her an email with 2 questions:

“Do you love Jesus above all else & do you want to make our journey official?” Now if that seems a bit strange, perhaps what was stranger – is that Danielle didn’t sleep for 2 weeks after she read that – not because of Sam’s proposal – but because of the first part of that question. “Do you love Jesus above all else?”

Their relationship got off to a rough start, Danielle told him that she was a mess as a person, and she was independent and never wanted to get married – but deep down it was because she was so afraid of being used again, she thought it would be better to be left alone.

Sam initially tried to fix Danielle, to make things right with suggestions on what to do. But after a while he stopped – nothing was working. And he remembered, what really needed to change was the knowledge that Jesus loved her. So instead of fixing her himself, he starting waiting patiently, and praying for her – that Jesus would show His love to her. Danielle responded, “I put him down time and time again, but he didn’t leave, he was so patient, so nice, just encouraging and praying”. Then she thought, if Sam is like this, then what must Jesus be like?

Sam by doing that you have shown to all of us - God’s answer to our rejection of His loving relationship. That is the good news of the Christian faith. God so loved the world – his children – that He sent His Son Jesus, to come along-side us – to be that helper-companion that we always needed. To wait lovingly with open arms, to a people who would put Him down and reject Him time and time again – to people who would even kill Him. Danielle – we thank you that you didn’t end up killing Sam.

The answer to sin, to rejection of love – is the offer of love given in marriage, by the great bridegroom of the universe – Jesus Christ. Jesus came and to a bruised and broken world in darkness, shone like a brilliant warm light, just like He did way back in the beginning, in Genesis 1 – and said to us – will you marry me?

Sam finally proposed when they left the ship – why he waited till then is because you’re not really allowed to marry when you are serving on that ship, it’s a special rule they have. But the minute they got off onto terra firma – in a secret plot with her sister – he brought Danielle to her favourite childhood place in Northern Ireland, Rathlin Island – and proposed, this time not by email, but face-to-face. And in response, that was the first time Danielle said “I love you”. And they told me that day – there was a ray of sunshine, and 6 rainbows.

What a story eh? And it’s true, and it’s even more true than you think. Why? Because that is the story of reality itself. As we know from every love story ever told – we want to be loved – that is what we were made for – to be loved. And so often, we waste our lives trying to prove both to God and to others that they should love us because we are smart, or hardworking, or we vote for PAP, or we are rich or beautiful. And where does that bring us? Nowhere – people only end up liking us because of those things, not because of who we are. The only One who can love us for who we really are is the One who made us and the one who died for us – Jesus. Once Sam knew Jesus loved him, He could spread that goodness to love Danielle. The only reason you and I exist is to be loved by Him – that is why He made us in His image.

Sam and Danielle, as I finish, this is the calling for your marriage. I know both of you are in media, they take photos and make movies, but this time you are the media. You are now a picture, an image, a movie to be watched by a world of cynical critics! People will look at you to find out the meaning of their lives. But you need to watch out, the same sin that turned you away from God in the beginning, will still be at work in your marriage. Sam that sin will make you want to overpower Danielle, I know she has a little height advantage, but you will want to clench your fist at her and make her listen to you to prove your worth. And Danielle, when you want him to listen to you will try by your looks or emotions to seduce Sam, to force him to do things that you want. To say, I’m worth your love. But the minute you do that – that emptiness, that feeling of being used – will set in again, it will eat away what you’ve worked so hard to build today. Don’t let it. Love one another, serve one another, submit to one another – be each other’s helper-companion – just as Jesus is loving, serving and leading you.

And as you love one another, you will do what God commanded us to do in the first place – to multiply – to fill the whole earth. Yes, one way is that you could have that many children, but no, it also means that as you love one another – that love, like the love that God the Father has with His Son, will overflow – it will be a spreading goodness. It will spill into the lives of others and help us remember what we were made for.

Do you here today with us remember what you were made for? You were designed to be loved by Jesus – it’s something we so quickly forget... and our lives become hollow and empty. So now I invite you all to look at them, the happy couple, and remember this is what we were made for – this kind of love, this kind of married life with Jesus Christ. And that is very good.

Let us pray.

Good News in the Garden

2011-06-15T05:16:00.001+08:00

Here's my second article for our parish magazine:

For years, I had unhelpfully divided the Christian life into those things that appear to be “spiritual” and those that are “not-so-spiritual.” You might be able to identify with this. For example, I saw prayer, the reading of Scriptures, communion, Christian work, fasting and so on, as more spiritual than say, eating, shopping, washing up or going to the toilet –mundane things that had to be done, but that really aren’t… very spiritual.

Something that the apostle Paul says has helped to dismantle this dividing wall. He wrote, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31) implying that everything can be spiritual because God can be glorified in everything.

But did Paul really mean this? What about something as mundane as eating some cereal for breakfast? Or munching on some fruit? Or carrying out work in our gardens or allotments this spring? How in the world do we eat Weetabix to the glory of God? Do the 5-a-day have spiritual as well as physical benefits? Can we really enjoy fellowship with God through gardening? According to Paul and the rest of Scriptures, yes!

Well, before you think I’m mad, let me just explain where I’m coming from – or rather, whose footsteps I’ve been following! Firstly, John Wesley said, “God has written a sermon in everything”. And secondly, John Calvin says the Bible is like a pair of glasses through which we look at the world to see what it’s saying about the Living God.

So by looking at creation through the lenses of Scriptures, our eyes are opened to a new horizon of spirituality where without exception, all our actions become small occasions of fellowship with God.

So let’s use cereal, fruit and a harvest as our case study. The LORD made sure that Israel, His ancient church, thought about and celebrated their significance in a big way at least twice a year. Two of their seven annual feasts revolve around harvest time – the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks.

We may not celebrate these two feasts in the same way today. But, we can still think of what our breakfast cereals, fruit or gardens are preaching. The Apostle Paul tells us exactly what we’re to think about – the death and resurrection of Jesus and our glorious future with Him.

In talking about the resurrection, Paul calls Jesus “the firstfruits of them that are raised from the dead.” So just as the firstfruits from any harvest are a sign of the rest of the harvest to come, the resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee of our resurrection. Just as Jesus has been resurrected into a new, sinless and imperishable body, we will be like Him when He returns.

Just before He died, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). And so after His death, like a seed, Jesus’ body was ‘planted’ in a garden (John 19:41) only to burst forth from it as the Tree of Life.

I don’t know what your cereal of choice or favourite fruit is, but whenever you eat them, think of the Divine Seed who was sown to bear the fruit of eternal life for all. Or when you’re working on your allotments, as you sow seed and anticipate the plants coming up from the ground, remember the good news in that garden from which Jesus rose from the dead, and look forward to our own resurrections which He has guaranteed.

Recently, as I was officiating an interment of ashes at Western Mill Cemetery, I was reminded of how Christians in the past used to see cemeteries as harvest fields. One day, at the final harvest, like seeds that have been sown, we will all burst forth from the grave: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: [yet] some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2)”. The wheat will be separated from the weeds and chaff, and all of us who belong to Jesus will be gathered to Him to be with Him, and His Father and the Holy Spirit, to enjoy the fullness of life forever.

In the meantime, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field (Matthew 9:37-38)”. Let us do what Jesus asks us to do; let’s pray for our parish, city, country and world. But let us also consider how we ourselves have been commissioned to be workers in His field and pray that the Lord will lead us to tell others the good news of our beloved Jesus and the future we have with Him.

The 'Sound' of the Spirit

2011-06-10T10:29:00.002+08:00

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

A reference to hearing the Word of God that comes from heaven and goes back to heaven??

A Memorial Sermon

2011-06-07T07:19:00.000+08:00

A sermon I did at the first year memorial service for my grandmother (Ammachi):

Today we are commemorating the first year since the passing and home-going of my Ammachi to the Lord Jesus. I have not been to many funerals or memorials, but from what I know – at a funeral, we weep for those that have left us, we are often too filled with sadness and perhaps other conflicting emotions for us to be able to think or reflect, as we commit the person into the loving hands of our Lord.

Though here, at this memorial, we have had time. We have had time to think, to reflect, and to process what has happened – and so now is the time we can remember. This is the time to hear stories of Ammachi’s life, to hear testimonies of her service, to see pictures of her legacy in her family that she has left behind – and perhaps to even learn lessons that we can use in our own lives.

There is a question I had to think about – how should I remember my Ammachi? To be honest, I actually did not know her that well as a person. I knew she was kind, and gentle, meek, hardworking, always hospitable – but I did not really know her personally. When I came back from the UK, I thought maybe - that would be a good time to start, and even perhaps to dare to try to learn Malayalam for once – but I’m afraid I was too late. She already had the stroke and was not in any condition to be able to share her life with me and my new family. All I know from her personally is what she had written in her testimony – and what stands out is that though her life was very tough, she trusted in – as I read her own words “the God who provided for Elijah in the desert, had provided for us too and kept us alive all during the war”, “the God who guided Moses and the people of Israel by pillars of clouds and pillars of fire came to the protection of us” – as she managed to get back to Singapore, “the wonderful Lord who protected me” – from illness during surgery, “The one who promised me that He will never leave me or forsake me was faithful”. Indeed the theme verse for her testimony – indeed for my Ammachi’s life – was Psalm 37:5 - “Commit your way to the Lord! Trust in Him, and He will act”.

But how should I feel? Should I then be filled with regret and guilt that I did not make the extra effort to know her before she went home? Should I simply move on with my life as though nothing actually happened?

How should we, any of us, remember anyone who has physically left us? Well let us turn to the Words of Jesus for some help.

Matthew 22:31-32 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Jesus was talking about death, He was in the middle of a debate with this group of Jewish religious leaders called the Sadducees. As they read the the Law of Moses, they had come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as an afterlife, or anything beyond the physical – there was nothing spiritual. As some of the Rabbis wrote – they believed that the souls died with the bodies – and that was it, the end of life. And so it was not surprising that many of the Sadducees were very rich and powerful – since this life was all they had, they had to make the most of it. Because of this they asked Jesus an insulting question that they had thought would make an obvious mockery of any idea of some sort of ‘life after death’.

Yet Jesus, in response, rebuked them twice – saying that they did not understand both the power of God, and the way they read their Bibles was terrible. They did not see from that this life was only temporary, and that it would lead to something eternal and permanent in the life with the Living God Himself. He quoted a verse from the book of Exodus chapter 3, where the visible Lord came down to meet with Moses himself and told him, that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – He is not the God of the dead, but the Living.

Jesus strongly told off these religious leaders that the Father in heaven does not have any dead followers – for Jesus Himself declared that He is the resurrection and the life, and all who know Jesus, already have life eternal in Him. You see in the Bible, as I’m sure you all well know, to be dead is not strictly speaking to be in the grave. To be dead – means to be cut off from a relationship with the God who is life and who gives life. Anyone who does not know the Father of life, whose life is given in the Son, through life-giving Spirit – is already dead, as far as the Living God is concerned. It is like a flower, which has been cut-off from a branch – it may look alive, but actually it is dead, and slowly that death will become a reality in its appearance, the flower will wither and fade away.

Yet to anyone who trusts in the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, will be re-joined to the tree of life, that is Christ, and life of God will flow into them. Any of us who by faith is joined with the Living God, is now alive in Him, and we have His life giving Spirit. And this is such a strong and profound reality – that Jesus said ”Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" To the Christian united with Christ, death is merely falling into a deep sleep, crossing a deep river, only to wake up in the presence of the loving arms of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Jesus can also say right now, “I am the God of Ammachi”. She is alive right now, in Him. Yes her body may have decayed, but her spirit is right now in paradise with the Living God, enjoying His very presence. And that is God’s promise, and indeed her own great hope fulfilled – as she knew in this life the Lord who protected, guided, and was present with her. She now knows this in its fullest reality. She is with Jesus. Do you believe this – she is alive with Him.

So back to my question, what does that mean when I try to remember her? Well firstly, it means, I don’t have to bring her back. You know those greeting cards that say ‘those whom we really love never really go away’ – well that’s not true. Ammachi has gone away, and I need to accept that – but I the way I accept that is with great hope. Many people try to re-create the presence of their loved ones because they miss them so much, and while that is understandable – it is also hints that there may be a lack of that future hope. In Jesus, I have a future hope – I will go to meet Ammachi, as sure as I will go to meet Jesus. I don’t have to ascend into heaven to bring her down, I don’t have to conjure her up from the grave, neither do I have to imagine that she is somehow around – because she’s not – she’s with Him – isn’t that glorious! And so as much as some of us miss her – we can rejoice, because of Jesus – we are going to see her – soon, very soon. That is our great hope in Christ. And once we can accept this, once we can believe Him – our faith will be all the stronger because of it – we won’t have to live this very sad-you-see life.

Having a Living God, who has conquered death and sin also means I don’t have to remember a fake Ammachi. Very often in memorials and eulogies, we think we have to say only what is good about a person – we make them up to be some sort of angel, because we think that’s the best way to remember them. Now I attended another wake a couple of months ago, where I heard the most honest testimony by someone of their father - the good things, and the bad things too – and it was so much more powerful and helpful than simply filtering out the bad bits. If we are Christians, we all acknowledge that we are full of sin, we are not good people – yes our faith should produce good fruit – but we’re not perfect. Having a resurrected God who has conquered sin means I can acknowledge both the faithful things in Ammachi’s life, and even the things that caused me pain, or sorrow, or anger. She was not perfect – and I don’t think she would say that about herself either. I don’t think that’s how she wants to be remembered. If we want to remember a person truly, then we have to remember the real person. If I try to only think about the good things –one day that ‘false memory bubble’ I’ve created will burst – and all I will be left with is feelings of resentment, anger, or even guilt. At all the issues we did not resolve, at all the things we did not say to one another, of all the wrongs she may have done to me and I to her. Jesus has dealt with sin on the cross – and that means, we can be honest about my Ammachi – we can acknowledge both her failings, and her fruit. That is how we will remember her in a way that is both honoring to her, and in away we can learn from her life – it will not be in vain.

So let us then sit down and talk about my Ammachi, indeed any of our fellow saints that have gone before us. But let us learn from her in the light of Jesus. So we can talk about the good things, things that we can imagine – “wow she was so hardworking for her family – I’m sure Jesus works harder for us” – can we copy those? And the failings – “perhaps she was lacking in this area, maybe we should watch ourselves so we don’t do the same”. I think she would love that. Don’t you? Well I’m sure Jesus would love that. And there is one overriding lesson that she definitely would tell us today if we could hear from her – now that she has seen the ascended and reigning Christ. And I know this because that’s what it says in the Bible – she would want us to spend more of our time serving Him and His people – because she can see first-hand now, all the fruit of her labours, and all the things that were lacking. She wants to know that now is the time to turn to Christ, and to keep turning to Him to serve Him in His kingdom – proclaiming God’s love to the nations.

Finally to conclude, because I have a Living God that has conquered sin and come through death and is now alive forevermore. Despite the fact that I did not get a chance to know my Ammachi that well in this life - I will have all eternity to know her. We will know my Ammachi, and one another in the resurrection – and in fact we will know one another in a way more personally and more intimately than whatever we have here and now – how that will work out is a mystery to me – but it is a promise. And the way we will know one another is: we will be without sin – that is the great hope of the future new creation – there will be no more sin. That means, all those things I may have not liked about Ammachi, will be gone. She will be recognizably my Ammachi – I’ll know her instantly when I see her – but but a perfect sinless, absolutely Christ-like Ammachi – and I will so enjoy spending eternity getting to know her so well – with all the rest of the saints.

So as we today remember Ammachi, let us remember her through Jesus, our Living God – “I am the God of Ammachi”. May we spend some time talking about her life and faith, acknowledging her mistakes and failings – and learning how we too can be brought closer into a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, so that we can do better in our relationships with one other, here and now. One day, those of us who know Christ, will stand upon the earth, in new bodies, together with my Ammachi and my Jesus, and my Father.

To God be the glory –great things He has done.